Dear Reader

By Christine Liu

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Appetite is a weird thing. Distinct from actual, physical hunger, the emotional compulsion to consume seems to be dependent on several shifting parameters: mood, company, one's willpower to resist the last brownie. Not only do menu descriptions, regardless of actual food quality, pique the palate (would you prefer "the chicken" or "free-range rosemary-basted coq au vin"?), but a study to be published in Psychological Science's October issue even suggests that menu typeface can influence diners. Eerie? Call it cravings of the brain.

But we have a hunch that knowing the story behind your dinner (the modern food chain) will do much more than tame or inflame the appetite—even, perhaps, change the way you think about the globalization, food policy and environmental effects. Heady, sure, but sometimes being in the position of tasting involves responsibility for being a tastemaker.

Speaking of tastemakers, there's lots of chew on here besides our summer dining spread. Meat's stuffed into new roles at the Pierre Menard Gallery, Emile de Antonio's subversive filmmaking charges through the Harvard Film Archive and, well, Devo and the Tom Tom Club are back.

Bon appétit!