Cindy R. Lobel’s “Urban Appetites”- A Book Review by Amanda Leavitt, MA Gastronomy

Cindy R. Lobel’s “Urban Appetites”- A Book Review by Amanda Leavitt, MA Gastronomy

Present-day New York is a bustling city, filled with opportunities to enjoy food, either at a restaurant, grocery store, corner deli, or open-air market. In Urban Appetites, Cindy R. Lobel writes about the evolution of New York City’s food industry. Lobel argues that “New York became a food city when it became a metropolis” in the nineteenth century, and that New York’s evolution into this food city was impacted by “geography, culture, economics, and politics.” (Lobel 2015, 1) Lobel provides evidence of each of those impacts by discussing social, technological, and dietary changes in nineteenth-century New York.

Throughout the book, Lobel describes the “dual transformation” of New York City as both a metropolis and a “food city” (Lobel 2015, 2). While the book is written chronologically, each chapter also focuses on one specific change in that particular period, starting with the late 1700s when New York was just beginning to become industrialized, and New York’s food purveyors were closely connected to the vendors. The diet of the typical New Yorker consisted of meat and grains. At this time, the food system in the city was vulnerable to ”politics, health epidemics, and weather”(Lobel 2015, 30). This chapter also mentions the technology of the late 1700s, which was “an era before refrigeration” (Lobel 2015, 12). The absence of refrigeration meant frequent market visits and an urgent need to sell what was available. Transportation at the time was predominantly via ferry, as overland travel was difficult. 

The second, third, and fourth chapters focus on the mid to late 1800s, starting with the new and evolving technologies that facilitated access to food and the preservation of food. The advent and expansion of transportation methods had a positive impact on “[quickening] the carriage of goods to market”(Lobel 2015, 42). The expanding ferry and railroad network allowed more peripheral New York City to enjoy a greater variety of foodstuffs. Commercial ice also meant businesses and homes could better preserve meat.  The city, however, was growing due to immigration, and New York City expanded significantly. Despite the abundance of food, the expansion of the food system facilitated opportunities for corruption, including “middlemen” who drove up prices (Lobel 2015, 75). In a market that was “free for all”, the system was designed to benefit wealthy politicians (Lobel 2015, 75). 

Throughout the book, Lobel threads the societal implications of all of these technological and systemic changes. Even into the mid-1800s, the wealthy could afford to shop earlier at the markets, when the best cuts of meat and freshest produce were available. Hucksters, typically poor women, would purchase the lesser cuts at the end of the day to resell. This created a need for governmental interference, which protected the businesses that had to pay market fees. Corruption also widened the gap between the rich and poor, since conflict created obstacles within the food system and left the poor with lesser quality food.

Lobel also wrote about two different social spheres in the final chapters – the restaurant and the home. Restaurants were “the quintessential urban institutions” of the nineteenth century; they were places where both businessmen could meet and converse, and where the typical New Yorker could dine (Lobel 2015, 103-104). Suddenly, “men ate at least five meals a week” at restaurants instead of at home, and restaurants surged in popularity (Lobel 2015, 108). Restaurants served as a place to interact with strangers; Lobel suggests that as the city grew into a metropolis, restaurants were where people came together to share in a common experience – dining out. 

The final chapter speaks to the evolution of the role of the home. The “semi-public” nature of the home meant that families furnished their dining rooms for not only themselves but also for guests (Lobel 2015, 140). “Daily dinners became more ritualized”, and dining rooms were the setting for families to sit together after spending the day apart (Lobel 2015, 142). In this chapter, the focus is largely on the societal changes physically manifested in New York homes, as families considered these dining spaces to be an extension of the public sphere.

In speaking about her method and sources, Lobel mentions that she relied on information provided by secondary sources, especially since previous historical literature focused simply on New York City’s “growth into a metropolis” and not necessarily “food and eating”(Lobel 2015, 4). In mentioning previous literature, she positioned her book as a new perspective on this period. Her collection of primary sources includes correspondence, images, magazines, and newspaper articles of the period. The correspondence in particular gives a voice to some New Yorkers in the 1800s, particularly “market chroniclers” (Lobel 2015, 21) John Pintard and Thomas de Voe. Pintard’s and de Voe’s accounts were crucial, as they provided first-hand accounts of the upper-middle-class market visitors. Both of these accounts also documented the evolution of the New York market and food system, especially as technology advanced. 

Overall, Lobel’s argument is well supported as she provided information on the political, societal, geographical, and cultural implications of an evolving city. She explained the role of the government in managing markets, delineated the different social classes, and spoke about how New Yorkers in each of those classes interacted in the market. She reaffirms for the reader that New York concurrently evolved into a food city and a metropolis.

However, while Pintard and de Voe provided detailed accounts of New York at the time, Lobel’s accounts of the lower class are fewer throughout the book. There may not have been enough primary sources from this social class, but this could be expanded on in subsequent research. 

The pictorial sources, including advertisements for newly invented household appliances, to images of New Yorkers in the market, complement each chapter. Particularly, the numerous maps show the city’s landscape changing over time, and Lobel’s use of these primary sources provides concrete evidence to support her claims. 

This book provides a few opportunities for further study. There was one chapter focused solely on the evolution of the role of the home as New York City evolved, and since the majority of the book focused on the public sphere, this chapter could also be a subject on its own in a following book.

The book’s conclusion also tells the story of a modern market, and subsequent research could be conducted on specific markets or facets of markets (fishing, produce, beef, etc.).  

Lobel’s research provided a focused perspective on the simultaneous change New York City went through as both a metropolis and a food city. This book is a good source for understanding the role food played in the evolution of nineteenth-century New York. 

Sources:

Lobel, Cindy R. Urban Appetites: Food and Culture in Nineteenth-Century New York. Chicago; London: The University of Chicago Press, 2015.