Whitebread Protestants Food and Religion in American Culture [Paperback]

At the beginning of Whitebread Protestants, Daniel Sack writes When I was young, church meant food. Decades later, it's hard to point to particular events, but there are lots of tastes, smells, and memories such as the taste of dry cookies and punch from coffee hour - or that strange orange drink from vacation Bible school. And so he begins this fascinating look at the role food has played in the daily life of the white Protestant community in the United States. He looks at coffee hours, potluck dinners, ladies' afternoon teas, soup kitchens, communion elements, and a variety of other things. A blend of popular culture, religious history and the growing field of food studies, the book will reveal both conflict and vitality in unexpected places in American religious life.At the beginning of Whitebread Protestants, Daniel Sack writes When I was young, church meant food. Decades later, it's hard to point to particular events, but there are lots of tastes, smells, and memories such as the taste of dry cookies and punch from coffee hour - or that strange orange drink from vacation Bible school. And so he begins this fascinating look at the role food has played in the daily life of the white Protestant community in the United States. He looks at coffee hours, potluck dinners, ladies' afternoon teas, soup kitchens, communion elements, and a variety of other things. A blend of popular culture, religious history and the growing field of food studies, the book will reveal both conflict and vitality in unexpected places in American religious life.

Mixing serious inquiry with a healthy dollop of humor...[Sack] has rearranged a culture most often viewed as mainstream and boring and effectively served it up as a complex and even exotic morsel. - New York Times Book Review

...offers a funny and insightful pilgrimage into a diverse world of potlucks, communion services and coffee hours. - Minneapolis Star Tribune

An ordained minils>