ePub Food City: Four Centuries of Food-Making in New York by Joy Santlofer in History

Review

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Outstanding and Gripping HistoryBy Charles"Food City;" by the late Joy Santlofer; shows us the amazing history of manufacturing; in this case food manufacturing; in New York City. Nowadays we don’t associate New York with manufacturing; but as recently as 1950; it was one of the largest manufacturing centers in the country. Reading about this lost past is a fascinating exercise; even if there is much less manufacturing in the city today.Santlofer begins with a brief overview of the food history of the city; under the Dutch and then the English. This introduction culminates in what sets the framework of the book: a parade celebrating the ratification of the Constitution; held in 1788; in which various food trades marched in groups. These included brewers; chocolate makers; butchers; bakers; and many more. Santlofer does an outstanding job; here and elsewhere in the book; evoking the atmosphere of the time she’s discussing; whether the 18th Century or the 20th. The reader practically feels like he’s there; watching the parade.The rest of the book is divided into four major sections; each covering one type of food: bread; sugar; drink; and meat. In each section; Santlofer weaves together descriptions of the food making processes; from raw materials to marketing and sale; and descriptions of the city at various times; including its physical atmosphere and the ins-and-outs of politics; especially as food affected its physical atmosphere and politics affected food. Naturally; the predominance of ethnic groups in eating patterns; manufacturing; and politics features frequently. Plus; there are enough descriptions of manufacturing equipment to satisfy a die-hard fan of the TV show How It’s Made; without the descriptions becoming overly technical or tedious. For example; I now know why sugar was sold in cones in blue paper—the refined sugar was a thick liquid that was poured into cone-shaped molds and dried; and the blue paper made the sugar look more white. And there is more; much more; where that came from.So the book is full of fascinating anecdotes. In fact; the book is basically a series of anecdotes. That’s not a criticism; the anecdotes are well-chosen; illustrative and hang together in service of the common themes of the book. It’s amazing to know; for example; sticking with sugar as my example; that sugar manufacturing was a huge business in New York for centuries. Sugar was of course intimately connected with the slave trade; since the raw materials for making refined sugar were produced by slaves in the Caribbean under conditions far worse than the terrible conditions of the American South. Cotton was not the only American industry that relied on slaves; just the one that did so most obviously. Naturally; the sugar barons of New York opposed the Civil War; fearing disruption of their economic interests; both from the disruption of trade and from slavery potentially ending. The Roosevelt family made its fortune on sugar; beginning prior to the Revolutionary War and going through the Civil War; which they opposed; of course—something that is ignored today; since they are liberal heroes. But it is good to remember that Franklin Roosevelt’s jaunty mien had foundations of slave bones.Santlofer also covers the common problem of maltreatment of workers by owners. Of course; when owners maltreated workers; it was in order to get money; and what money would buy; including social acceptance. That doesn’t mean that owners were necessarily; or even often; rich. In many instances; they were barely surviving themselves—one thing that comes through very clearly in Santlofer’s book is how intensely competitive all aspects of food manufacturing have always been in New York. An owner might have to work grueling hours himself; living in squalor himself; while his employees did the same; just to stay in business. But; of course; there were those businessmen who; especially as factories got bigger (some Manhattan factories occupied entire city blocks); divorced themselves from manual labor and from the actual operation of their businesses; and lived in luxury; yet still demanded that the workers compete among themselves; and against lower-priced labor if it could be found; to accept the lowest possible wages.The book ends with the decline and fall of food manufacturing in New York; as the high costs of real estate and taxes; along with snooty locals no longer desiring manufacturing in their proximity; combined to drive manufacturing farther and farther out; eventually away from the city and the area entirely. Santlofer concludes on a positive note; focusing on the rebirth of artisanal food manufacturing; from bread to pickles—although; of course; those foods are sold to the same wealthy people who drove out old-style manufacturing; which provided jobs and decent lives to hundreds of thousands of people who did not and do not eat artisanal bread. A little research does show that after decades of steep decline; manufacturing is on the uptick in New York City; with several thousand jobs having been added in recent years—all in small manufacturing businesses of various types. But in 2016; only 79;000 people worked in manufacturing in the entire NYC metro area. One can never tell; though—perhaps there will be a wholesale renaissance of manufacturing in America; and perhaps it will once again be led by New York.5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. GREAT GIFTBy Jane W. O'keefeThis is a very well researched and written food history book. A wonderful gift for anyone interested in how food came to the United States through New York and how the current food interest grew through the present!0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. History of food and New York City and this is a good oneBy C. M. StahlFood City: Four Centuries of Food Making in New York by Joy Santlofer. New York. W.W. Norton Company. 2016. 470pp. ISBN: 978-0-393-24136-5In the earliest month of 2016 the marvelous book 97 Orchard Street was reviewed here and at the end of the same year comes a review that shares many of its qualities. They are ones I enjoy immensely. A history of New York City; food; its production and historical changes are all subjects that are often explored here. The cultural influences and their adaptation in the “Melting Pot” are intriguing material that will never grow as stale as the bread of the Big Apple in the 19th century.Food City takes the reader back to the earliest European settlers in the region around Manhattan Island when the Dutch imperialists began their doomed endeavor to colonize the region. They based their diet initially by what was familiar to them but needed to make some concessions. They had to factor in the environment they found themselves in and to make do with what fauna could be hunted and how the climate and soil affected their flora. They also incorporated native foods and preparation of such.Adapting appetites was an important ingredient in this book as New York was for most of its 500 years of European settlement; the paragon of the “Melting Pot”. Over the centuries of habitation; the various European cultures made their own ethnic variations of foods and repast but also incorporated aspects of the diets of the fellow immigrants from different backgrounds.Much of the book; perhaps disproportionally so; dealt with baking. Bread was always essential and as the divisions of labor became more acute; bakers became distinct as providers. As Santlofer described they varied in their skills; product and success but on the average baking was a profitable business.It also was at times; frighteningly filthy and corrupt. On several occasions especially in the 19th century; media investigation upturned horrible conditions for bakers and the vermin they shared their bakeries with. Bakeries were legion in New York and the quality of the end product often questionable. In fact all food production had onerous conditions and provenders as well as honest ones. Food regulation today may not be as good as we would like; but in previous centuries it was often appalling.As the population grew and new cultures embedded themselves into the Big Apple; varieties of baking products expanded and so did specialties. Bread reigned supreme but as people could afford it; so did specialties like cookies and cakes. Wars also created capitalist enterprises which used government contracts to make hardtack and crackers for the military. Feeding soldiers with food that would not rot was imperative (even if the consumer wished for something more palatable) and New York bakeries thrived on those opportunities.As the baking industry expanded to sweets like pies; a new industry grew to provide simple and cheap sweets which became bountiful. The candy industry was born. It was not only to jolt the sweet tooth of New Yorkers but also to provide for the migrants west following Horace Greeley’s advice. The candy industry much like the bakeries of New York often maintained horrible conditions and what may have been covered with sugar to the palate; was often infested with insects; feces and offal. The candy industry also came under great scrutiny in the 19th century muckrakers.Cheap sugar from the British colonies found its way to New York though the English taxed it (like most everything else for their west of the Atlantic minions) heavily. The British had to crack down on the American people who often used contraband supplies to distill the spirits of the day which was mainly rum. They did this to avoid high taxes. There was plenty of that to go around New York as well as a weak and strong beer.The weak beer was consumed all day long by many workers at their trade as well as in their homes. Children likewise consumed this beer as drinking water was a risky pursuit especially in a city where hogs and cows ran in the streets with few restraints. There are many sepia photos around from the 19th century showing men and children with their growlers or pails of beer being carefully handled so as not to splash their contents prior to being consumed.The strong beers were set aside for special occasions and were mainly consumed by the middle and upper classes. I can imagine that those of less status still got their hands on strong beer as a result of rewards; magnanimity of others and undoubtedly theft.Both beers were brewed in vast quantities and became a major industry but as time and technology passed; brewers left the city for more profitable grounds and today the only beer brewed in New York is of the artisanal variety.When possible; meat was the victual of choice. The poor got it sporadically and usually in small doses. Even those who raised beef or pork were usually better off selling their product than consuming it. Like the slaves in the south; they probably kept the cheapest and least desirable cuts for themselves while the prime meats went to butchers.The author pointed out what is nearly common knowledge and that is cows and pigs were raised in the muddy streets of New York where they made do for themselves while leaving their waste where pedestrians tried to avoid it. Some did their own butchering which increased the smell of the streets to an unbearable degree. This had to have increased the irritant housefly numbers as well as rats. In short it made those neighborhoods noxious to extremes.There were certainly clean butcher shops who received their meats from local farms where the conditions were not so bad and they catered to those that could afford the finer meats. Restaurants providing for the newly wealthy industrialists as well as those from other forms of profit; could provide meats; baked goods and other foods that could be afforded. The restaurant business grew as leisure became more available both for time and cost. The restaurant trade in New York thrives today though differently in many cases.The American Civil War was the progenitor of a wave of industrialization that included food. All aspects of food production in New York began to find a way into factory life. Small and local bakeries and butcher shops gave way to vast operations employing thousands and providing huge quantities of food to the masses.This had positive and negative impact on food consumption. Factory models demanded uniformity and consistency. As regulators investigated production; standards had to be met but they were the kind of lowest common denominator. Foods had to be palatable but not interesting. They had to be made of ingredients that were measured specifically for the cost benefit of the owners and stock holders of vast food empires that began to provide for how people largely ate.The factories employed vast numbers of people but economics forced the movement to places cheaper than New York the businesses left for those greener pastures. Food as a major employer and provider to the citizens of New York met its demise during the 20 year span from the 1950s to the 1970s. It is essentially not a part of the fabric of New York City any longer. This is not to say that New Yorkers do not like fine dining which anyone knows is not true. Concepts like fast foods which are ever-present in New York as everywhere else; have taken over for sustaining the poorer classes. Fine dining is left to the artisans.New York is not close to being alone in having a new diet for those that can afford it. The idea of the Slow Food movement and other (questionably) health trends and artisanal foods is sweeping the nation at this point. In every city and hamlet throughout America breweries; bakeries and charcuteries are widespread and New York is no different. In some ways this is simply a matter of the times and economy. That makes it somewhat sad. The trend only provides for those who can enjoy it while those who cannot are able to buy cheap pizza slices and potato chips from the local 7-11.For those who can afford it; there is great tasting of baked goods; beers and restaurant’s using local and natural foods. In my own opinion that is how food consumption should be but at this point it is only for a few; not the many and that is a problem.This was a great book to read. The author passed away prior to its completion and it was finished apparently by family and friends so the term “author” should really be plural but when it was published Joy Santlofer was the credited author. Thanks to those who aided in bringing the book to its fruition.