What do readers think of Stuffed by Hank Cardello & Doug Garr? Write your own review.

Ever wonder why you give in to your impulses to buy certain products? Hank Cardello's book Stuffed will give you the answers. From the suppliers to markets to fast food and dining establishments, we are part of the entire process that often causes us to compromise taste for convenience. Stuffed provides the groundwork for anyone desiring to better understand the evolution of the food industry. More importantly, Cardello has written an excellent cross between an historical account of the food industry and a quick study of product marketing for any industry. Future marketers, this book is for you!

"Stuffed" is a good overview of America's food industry, highlighting the practices of the packaged foods industry, the grocery trade, and the restaurant industry. Not surprisingly, their policies promote profits, not health. The author offers an interesting insider's insight, with eye-opening anecdotes. The book becomes more interesting when the author offers real business-based solutions - ideas that could offer food industry profits while benefiting the customer nutritionally. This book is an easy read, and sparked my desire to be more vigilant and aware when making my grocery/restaurant choices.

While some of what Cardello writes about is well-known and been written about before, there is enough updated material and personal, insider stories to keep this book interesting. This book seems to be a good introductory discussion for people interested in learning about the topic, but it isn't the kind of expose that will really shake things up among people already entrenched on opposite sides of the issue. As a parent of two small children, I found the chapter "Let Them Eat Cupcakes" quite entertaining.

On the whole, I liked this book. The author let me see how cause and effect have impacted health and body size. It certainly opened my eyes to the world of food and the choices made. It isn't something I would have selected at first but the title intrigued me. I think it would be a good book club choice because the culprits listed would cause a lot of discussion.

Initially, I didn't think I would be all that impressed with this book because it's a lot of the same information I've already heard in other books and documentaries, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover interesting behind the scenes facts from the advertising point of view in the food industry.

I wavered between a 3 and 4 rating for this book. Although I didn't feel it lived up to the promotional hype comparing it to the Jeffrey Wigand/tobacco industry expose, there is lots of "food" for thought and discussion. While the first part, which focuses on the failings of the food industry, seems kind of "old news," the remainder is devoted to potential--some rather innovative--solutions.

Not long before reading Stuffed, I read The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Perhaps it is only in comparison to Michael Pollan’s thought-provoking work that Stuffed struck me as a bit uninspiring, more like a business school case study than a book for popular consumption. As a former food executive, Hank Cardello argues that the food industry has contributed to the obesity crisis in the United States, and suggests some incremental changes that could ameliorate those effects. His suggestions are directed at the food industry itself. As a consumer who tends to avoid packaged foods, I felt like a third party, an eavesdropper on a conversation among food industry insiders that didn't have much to do with me.

My review was slow in coming, not because the book was not read, but because I could not agree with myself about the worth of the book. Hank Carddello presents a very readable picture of merchandising in the food industry. He has the experience to evaluate the methods used. Many of the revelations are common sense observations and others do shed some light on how many of us are duped into poor eating habits. He says that companies resist change (healthy ones) not beneficial to corporate earning reports. I liked his honesty.

He also said that obese Americans choose to be unhealthy. I agreed with that statement too. However, he goes on to remove the responsibility of behavior from the consumer. The blame is placed on the food and beverage industry. His cure-all necessitates change from the producers and not the consumers. In my opinion there are too many instances where the consequences of behavior are removed from the individual. I see us becoming a nation of whiners always blaming someone else for our shortcomings. Can I sue Krispy Kreme because I am Fat?