cover image Pandora’s Lunchbox: How Processed Food Took Over the American Meal

Pandora’s Lunchbox: How Processed Food Took Over the American Meal

Melanie Warner, read by Ann Marie Lee. Tantor Media, unabridged, eight CDs, 9 hrs., $39.99 ISBN 978-1-4526-1321-5

This eye-opening expose of the food industry in America was conceived after Warner, while working as a journalist for The New York Times, made a trip to the supermarket and purchased a rather unhealthy amount of packaged foods in an attempt to see what would happen to them once all the expiry dates came and went. The results, as she states, were rather anti-climactic as she discovered that the foods were pretty much the same. But this left her asking one question: What do expiry dates really mean, and is “food” really food anymore? Narrated by Ann Marie Lee, this absolutely fascinating—and rather infuriating—look at what society is really eating is a must for any responsible adult. Lee’s delivery is simple and understated. She lets the shocking discoveries speak for themselves and her tone mirrors that of the text: she sounds like a concerned citizen who simply wants to know why we are being misled about what we eat. A Scribner hardcover. (Apr.)