Food is at the center of national debates about how Americans live and the future of the planet. Not everyone agrees about how to reform our relationship to food, but one suggestion rises above the din: We need to get back in the kitchen. Amid concerns about rising rates of obesity and diabetes, unpronounceable ingredients, and the environmental footprint of industrial agriculture, food reformers implore parents to slow down, cook from scratch, and gather around the dinner table. Making food a priority, they argue, will lead to happier and healthier families. But is it really that simple?In this riveting and beautifully-written book, Sarah Bowen, Joslyn Brenton, and Sinikka Elliott take us into the kitchens of nine women to tell the complicated story of what it takes to feed a family today. All of these mothers love their children and want them to eat well. But their kitchens are not equal. From cockroach infestations and stretched budgets to picky eaters and conflicting nutrition advice, Pressure Cooker exposes how modern families struggle to confront high expectations and deep-seated inequalities around getting food on the table.Based on extensive interviews and field research in the homes and kitchens of a diverse group of American families, Pressure Cooker challenges the logic of the most popular foodie mantras of our time, showing how they miss the mark and up the ante for parents and children. Romantic images of family meals are inviting, but they create a fiction that does little to fix the problems with the food system. The unforgettable stories in this book evocatively illustrate how class inequality, racism, sexism, and xenophobia converge at the dinner table. If we want a food system that is fair, equitable, and nourishing, we must look outside the kitchen for answers.

AcknowledgmentsChapter 1: Introduction: (Back) to the Kitchen?Part One: You Are What You EatChapter 2: Room 105Chapter 3: Deep RootsChapter 4: By the BookChapter 5: Hurtful WordsPart Two: Make Time for FoodChapter 6: Taking the TimeChapter 7: Finding BalanceChapter 8: Shift WorkPart Three: The Family that Eats Together, Stays TogetherChapter 9: Spaghetti for an ArmyChapter 10: Fourth of JulyChapter 11: Where's the Gravy?Chapter 12: TakisChapter 13: Scarce FoodPart Four: Know What's on Your PlateChapter 14: Vote with Your ForkChapter 15: The RepertoireChapter 16: Sour GrapesPart Five: Shop Smarter, Eat BetterChapter 17: Smart ShopperChapter 18: Blood from a TurnipChapter 19: The Checkout LinePart Six: Bring Good Food to OthersChapter 20: Lotus Caf?Chapter 21: A Small FridgeChapter 22: Daily BreadChapter 23: Stop CryingPart Seven: Food Brings People TogetherChapter 24: Sunday DinnerChapter 25: Cupcakes for CousinChapter 26: ThanksgivingChapter 27: CommunionChapter 28: Conclusions: Thinking Outside the KitchenAppendix: Notes on MethodsReferencesEndnotes