Breaking the Chain began with Allyson Reedy wanting to eat better-tasting, more adventurous food. After watching friends, family, and strangers eat unsatisfactory meal after meal at chain restaurants and get fatter as a result, she wondered how we could break this chain of mediocrity, obesity, and commercialism. So in 2009, Allyson Reedy stopped eating meals, snacks, and goodies from the kinds of restaurants that line America's streets and dominate our stomachs. This food memoir chronicles her year-long experience as she sought out local alternatives to the fast food we've come to rely upon.

Breaking the Chain is Fast Food Nation (Eric Schlosser) told from Carrie Bradshaw's point of view (if she loved manicotti as much as Manolos). Allyson shares the good and bad effects of her experiment, including passing up on her food rituals like an office breakfasts of bagels and donuts, her break from social customs, the inconvenience on friends, support for her neighbors and local food community, the discovery of new favorite foods, saving money, and ultimately, weight loss.