The Book Club is continuing to read the book of the month from December: Sweetness #9 by Stephan Eirik Clark. Clark takes a satirical look at over two decades of food wars, family life and American culture. We will meet on January 24th. A flyer will be posted at UUFP and the website will be updated with the meeting place and time. We hope you read the book and join us for the book club discussion, it’s very interesting!
The main character, David Leveraux, is a flavor chemist who starts his career in 1973 at a company whose new product is an artificial sweetener called Sweetness #9.
His job is to test the product on lab rats and monkeys and monitor the health effects. He reports a lot of side effects that are covered up by the company.
Sweetness #9 soon becomes the artificial sweetener used in diet drinks, and many other foods, and is also marketed in little packets for use in coffee and tea. When Leveraux sees Americans overcome by the symptoms he found in the lab animals — like obesity, rage, depression — he feels personally responsible for not having blown the whistle on the manufacturer.