In the July 28th issue, I liked "The Flood Will Come" by John Seabrook and "The Case for Lunch" by Lauren Collins. At last, a food article not written by Hannah! Also good was "The Whisker Wars" by Margaret Talbot in the Books section.
"The Flood Will Come" is next on my reading list. I don't have Collins' article in front of me, but I remember feeling a little dissatisfied with her brief discussion of "dinner: vs. "lunch" (I think it was "lunch"). My mother had a cookbook of traditional Pennsylvania Dutch foods, and I remember the author pointing out that farmers needed a good solid breakfast before they went to work in the morning and then another good solid meal in the middle of the day ("dinner") before they went back to work in the fields (I guess this was a lot before mechanization of farm work). The evening meal ("supper") was light compared to the mid-day meal. Thus, you had breakfast, dinner, and supper.
My grandmother grew up in a largely rural area, and that's what she called the three daily meals, breakfast, dinner, and supper. The time for the mid-day meal was "dinnertime." "Supper" kind of reminds me of one definition I've heard of "high tea" as a light evening meal (not to be confused with afternoon tea.
