When journalist Jeannie Marshall moved to Rome with her husband, she immersed herself in Italy's famous culinary traditions. But when the couple's son was born a few years later, Marshall began to see how Italy's great food culture was eroding, especially within young families. Like their American counterparts, Italian children were eating sugary cereal in the morning and packaged, processed, salt- and fat-laden snacks throughout the day. Busy Italian parents were rejecting local markets for supermarkets, and introducing their toddlers to fast food restaurants. So Marshall set on a quest to discover why "kid food" is proliferating around the world. The story offers insight into our battle with the food companies, with our own desires and with our culture. Through discussions with food crusaders such as Alice Waters, with chefs, nutritionists, parents and Italian food vendors as well as with the big food companies such as PepsiCo and Nestle, Marshall gets behind the problems with our children's diets and offers a fresh, new perspective that will change the way we view cooking and eating.