Book Review: Pandora's Lunchbox '

A common theme in entertainment today is the question “Just because I can, should I do it?” Usually this is applied to moral issues or controversial scientific breakthroughs. Yet, very little of the American public even bother to ask this about food science and production. As long as the food tastes good and is convenient, most people don’t really care. Melanie Warner, overall, was just like most Americans. In her book she documents how a former business journalist became infatuated with the longevity of cheese, guacamole, and other normal American cuisine. It’s a dark hole. Most readers will be horrified and confused with such production methods. While Warner’s book isn’t a scientific study, her neutral style and intriguing investigation

Warner raises several main questions throughout her text. While she never directly asks the reader to consider the following questions, a reader will question the healthiness of eating processed foods, if there is proper moderation of additives, and what steps they can take to choose a healthier lifestyle. The main goal of the text appears to be to inform about processed foods and how they came to play such a major role in the American diet. This is demonstrated with the heavy amount of history and statistics intertwined in the book. Interestingly enough Warner claims that she wrote the book, “As an argument for eating foods closer to the ground” (Warner 223). Yet the book doesn’t feel like an argument. She effectively makes one question what they’re eating but her neutral tone keeps the book from being an

Some might complain about the guilt they feel knowing they are willingly consuming sodium benzoate and soybean oil. Which, according to Warner, isn’t a bad thing. If one is buying a blueberry muffin, most likely, they’d be interested to know that those “blueberry” pieces are the result of an experiment. If it was common knowledge that out of the 5,000 additives found in food barely a half has been tested, American’s would ponder their diet. While change is never easy, it isn’t hard to spark a movement towards change. This is evident with the shift towards eating better. Perhaps it will amount to no more than a trend, but throughout history, science has never surpassed the natural world. That is why the natural world has survived as long as it can, because, in many ways, it’s the best you can get. Pandora’s Lunchbox possess the ability to spark something more than a general knowledge of cereal factories. As mentioned, Pandora’s Lunchbox is full of research. It is quite impressive. In chapter 5, Putting Humpty Dumpty Back Together Again, Warner goes into much detail about the way synthetic vitamins are made. The story about sheep’s wool grease being turned into vitamin D is especially disgusting. All throughout the book a reader will appreciate knowing Warner did her homework on companies, statistics, and chemicals. The only frustrating part is it is hard