"The Food that Built America" is another in the series about how American was "built". Previous series include "The Men Who Built America" (2012), "How Booze Built America" (2017), and "The Men Who Built America: The Frontiersmen" (2018). Each one is exceptional as is this one.
13 Reviews
Good tasting series that is informative and historical telling of the many famous products that fills our stomachs!
blanbrn16 March 2021
Everyone and all of us love and enjoy food and with this new "History Channel" series called "The Food that Built America" it's very historical and informative as it tells how many of our favorites snacks were developed plus it tells the background and start of many famous tycoons. Spotlighted are fast food giants like McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger King. And the soda giants like Pepsi and Coke are featured. And interesting is seeing history and coming about of snack kings Hershey, Kellogg, Post, and Lays. Overall if you like history and want to know the pop culture of products and like to eat then watch this series it will fill you up just right!
Fascinating insights into what drove food tycoons to succeed
Paul_in_NJ14 August 2019
Kudos to History Channel for a riveting and well-made documentary about visionaries with ambition, drive, a thirst for success, and a willingness to risk everything on an untested, untried idea for a food that no one had experienced before.
This three-part six-plus-hour documentary follows the failure and success of several now-household product names from entrepreneurs Henry Heinz, Will and John Kellogg, Frank and Forrest Mars, Charlie Post and his ambitious daughter Marjorie, Milton Hershey, Harland Sanders, Clarence Birdseye, the two McDonald brothers, and the nearly-forgotten John Pemberton and his invention, Coca-Cola. Their tales are set against the backdrop of a country that, in the space of less than a century, evolved from a largely agrarian culture to the leader of the free world.
Each story is told by well-cast and talented actors, and supported by interviews with food historians, history professors, and food writers. The dramatizations take us to earlier times when success was far from assured, and failure and bankruptcy a real possibility.
The sets are stunning. Some exterior shots were done on location. I did wonder whether many of the interior scenes were filmed at the actual locations where they first occurred. They're first rate.
The people interviewed (primarily corporate and culinary historians) add their own in-depth knowledge to each tale. Whether they're discussing Hershey, or the Kellogg brothers, or Sanders, or one of the other culinary pioneers, each stresses that while they're household names today, success was not assured. Indeed, several of these 'food pioneers' went bust -- some more than once -- only to claw their way back up. Two world wars and a great depression challenged them to the point of failure, while post-war booms presented untold opportunities.
The people chosen each invented a food (or developed new ways to prepare or sell food) that had never existed before. In each case, they had to convince a skeptical public to try something new and unique, which meant big risk and long hours. In the end, each succeeded, and most of them reaped both fame and fortune.
The tale of the Kellogg brothers is intimately intertwined with that of C.W. Post, and their shared history is riveting. The same can be said of the friendship, then rivalry, then all-out war between two candy titans -- Hershey's Chocolate and Mars, Inc.
The histories of these food tycoons are somewhat different, but they shared the same goal: to change the way America looked at food. It was their overwhelming drive to succeed, and their certainty that their idea was the one America was waiting for, that finally paid off. The Food That Built America is entertaining, instructive, and even inspiring.
This three-part six-plus-hour documentary follows the failure and success of several now-household product names from entrepreneurs Henry Heinz, Will and John Kellogg, Frank and Forrest Mars, Charlie Post and his ambitious daughter Marjorie, Milton Hershey, Harland Sanders, Clarence Birdseye, the two McDonald brothers, and the nearly-forgotten John Pemberton and his invention, Coca-Cola. Their tales are set against the backdrop of a country that, in the space of less than a century, evolved from a largely agrarian culture to the leader of the free world.
Each story is told by well-cast and talented actors, and supported by interviews with food historians, history professors, and food writers. The dramatizations take us to earlier times when success was far from assured, and failure and bankruptcy a real possibility.
The sets are stunning. Some exterior shots were done on location. I did wonder whether many of the interior scenes were filmed at the actual locations where they first occurred. They're first rate.
The people interviewed (primarily corporate and culinary historians) add their own in-depth knowledge to each tale. Whether they're discussing Hershey, or the Kellogg brothers, or Sanders, or one of the other culinary pioneers, each stresses that while they're household names today, success was not assured. Indeed, several of these 'food pioneers' went bust -- some more than once -- only to claw their way back up. Two world wars and a great depression challenged them to the point of failure, while post-war booms presented untold opportunities.
The people chosen each invented a food (or developed new ways to prepare or sell food) that had never existed before. In each case, they had to convince a skeptical public to try something new and unique, which meant big risk and long hours. In the end, each succeeded, and most of them reaped both fame and fortune.
The tale of the Kellogg brothers is intimately intertwined with that of C.W. Post, and their shared history is riveting. The same can be said of the friendship, then rivalry, then all-out war between two candy titans -- Hershey's Chocolate and Mars, Inc.
The histories of these food tycoons are somewhat different, but they shared the same goal: to change the way America looked at food. It was their overwhelming drive to succeed, and their certainty that their idea was the one America was waiting for, that finally paid off. The Food That Built America is entertaining, instructive, and even inspiring.
Campbell Scott the narrator is outstanding
DingelBerry14 August 2019
Interesting
gkeith_122 February 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Interesting. Fascinating.
Spoilers. Observations. Opinions.
Seeing it for second time. Have visited Hershey factory plus the town itself. Dry cereal gave a new option instead of just oatmeal or standard breakfast. Mars family squabbled. Kellogg brothers couldn't get along. I love milk chocolate and hate dark chocolate. Sanders didn't mess around with those ppl painting his signs. Ka-blam!!!! The fried chicken looked cool (hot, lol) cooking in those iron skillets.
Watching DVR recordings. Haven't seen much yet of the McDonald brothers. May not have seen it all when it first came out last summer. I am still recovering from heart surgery and its aftermath, and in the meanwhile I am still critiquing and reviewing films and TV shows - almost up to 500 now.
I liked the earlier series about Carnegie, Rockefeller, et al, but this food series seems quite interesting also. Never saw The Road to Wellville, but hope to sometime.
Glad to see a woman as one of these titans. These two series are so male-oriented. Marjorie is looking good, though a bit frazzled in the hair department. She is portrayed by a very pretty actress who also wears clothes well.
Spoilers. Observations. Opinions.
Seeing it for second time. Have visited Hershey factory plus the town itself. Dry cereal gave a new option instead of just oatmeal or standard breakfast. Mars family squabbled. Kellogg brothers couldn't get along. I love milk chocolate and hate dark chocolate. Sanders didn't mess around with those ppl painting his signs. Ka-blam!!!! The fried chicken looked cool (hot, lol) cooking in those iron skillets.
Watching DVR recordings. Haven't seen much yet of the McDonald brothers. May not have seen it all when it first came out last summer. I am still recovering from heart surgery and its aftermath, and in the meanwhile I am still critiquing and reviewing films and TV shows - almost up to 500 now.
I liked the earlier series about Carnegie, Rockefeller, et al, but this food series seems quite interesting also. Never saw The Road to Wellville, but hope to sometime.
Glad to see a woman as one of these titans. These two series are so male-oriented. Marjorie is looking good, though a bit frazzled in the hair department. She is portrayed by a very pretty actress who also wears clothes well.
What a surprise!
kurisutofusan27 June 2021
I knew the reputation of the History channel and all their strange documentaries so I would never had watched this.
However, my wife chose it so I started watching under protest and expecting that she'll give up after ten minutes because of the bad quality.
Well, she got disinterested quick enough but I got hooked in that same interval!
I watched the full series in one sitting and even my wife got interested again after I caught her up on the famous people and companies.
It was very interesting, well acted and narrated and the reenactments were of such quality that you could have fooled me into believing it was a normal TV series!
However, my wife chose it so I started watching under protest and expecting that she'll give up after ten minutes because of the bad quality.
Well, she got disinterested quick enough but I got hooked in that same interval!
I watched the full series in one sitting and even my wife got interested again after I caught her up on the famous people and companies.
It was very interesting, well acted and narrated and the reenactments were of such quality that you could have fooled me into believing it was a normal TV series!
The perfect history show for non-fans of history
shelleyalevin24 February 2022
If you were less than enthused in history class but love pop culture, this is the show that will turn you into a history buff. And it's genuinely fascinating for true history buffs, Americana fans, foodies, and big business fanatics -
Interesting and educational
rider32024 August 2019
The music is over-the-top idiotic
paulstrebe23 May 2021
At least twice as long as it needs to be
nillabop12 January 2023
The stories are indeed interesting, I give them a 9/10 for that (it's amazing how much of our gastro American culture is junk food!) but the majority of the talking heads they choose to give color commentary (with the possible exception of Adam Richman) are atrocious -- boring, redundant to what was just narrated, and most of them have voices so grating it's hard to focus on anything they're saying. Also, the re-creations are both unnecessary and dowright silly after a while -- nobody ages (ever!) and nobody ever changes their outfit! I'm sorry, but after so many episodes, that just becomes a joke. If each episode was 30 minutes and they simply stuck to the history without all the unnecessary fluff, I'd rate it much higher.
Interesting approach.
philip-0019725 June 2021
Just right. Adding dramatisation to the storytelling of great American food brands... really works. The Food that Built America may not be one of the best documentaries ever made - but it is certainly is one of the more entertaining.
Suitability Schneider, Grim and Withe deliver a "fast food" approach to the documentary format - you keep wanting to come back for more. It's interesting, easy viewing and entertaining.
Adding to merit; it is, arguably, appealing to those who normally avoid documentaries and so manages to spread knowledge to a broader audience.
Well done.
Suitability Schneider, Grim and Withe deliver a "fast food" approach to the documentary format - you keep wanting to come back for more. It's interesting, easy viewing and entertaining.
Adding to merit; it is, arguably, appealing to those who normally avoid documentaries and so manages to spread knowledge to a broader audience.
Well done.
Good work
davidaempatton-274615 March 2023
I started watching it when I got covid in mid June 2021 and immediately like it. It talks about all of the foods that Americans grew up with from Hersheys, KFC, Lays. Among many many others. It gives people a good insight about the foods they grew up eating as a kid. It's in a great format that keeps the viewer interested to learn about the investors of the foods and why the food was made and the time period and the conflict between the rival of the company. It makes you feel that you're in the time period that there mentioning. Great job history channel keep of the good work can't wait to see new episodes.
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