Nature's Perfect Food: How Milk Became America's Drink » (1st Edition)

E. Melanie DuPuis is associate professor of sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz and author of Nature's Perfect Food: How Milk Became America's Drink (NYU Press, 2001).

DuPuis (sociology, U. of California, Santa Cruz) traces the social history of milk in the US, linking its promotion as "nature's perfect food" to notions of perfection, health, and modern industry. Additional topics include attitudes towards city versus country, agricultural practices, the story of pasteurization requirements, gender issues associated with milkmaids, land use policy, the milk strikes of the 1930s, dairy policies in Wisconsin and California, and the current controversy over bovine growth hormone. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)