Infatuation with Health and National Identity

Over the course of America’s history, food defines our identity as a nation, and with changes brought upon us by political and social influence, the relationship between the consumer and producer constantly changes. Over time, something that has become increasingly more important in today’s society is the desire for healthy, naturally prepared foods. With the organic food movement gaining speed, the relationship between people, companies, and advertisers morphs itself into a health conscious community, labeling almost every package of food as “reduced fat” or “sugar free.” The idea of eating something without having to pay the price of weight gain is alluring to many people and with the environment becoming a monumental political issue, organic food is a way to act politically conscious while being aware of how your food is being created. Health’s crucial role in American society impacts the entire food industry, and this shift from mass-produced, bland food to all natural, fresh ingredients has been a continuous, steady work in progress.

            Throughout history, American culture has been directly expressed through culinary arts. With the rise in immigrants, the wide variety of dishes has made America the “melting pot” of the world. With industrialization, mass production and transportation of food has shown the capability of America as a leading world power. With political and social unrest, America has expressed their opinions through the food they eat, like Victory Gardens. American culture can always be directly related to the latest food trends.

            The most prominent shift in food identity has gone from eating heart-stopping meals to calorie-cutting cuisines. As David Leite wrote on his website, “While you may be lapping up fat-free yogurt with a café latte and Sweet’N Low chaser, our fictitious centenarian, depending where he lived, filled his plate with porridge, flapjacks, mutton or a heart-stopping amount of home-cured bacon” (Leite). Ever since migration to the new world, food has had a uniqueness to the time period. During early America, food was always associated with English traditions (Mintz). However, as industrialization expanded, food became more mass produced, mass marketed, and standardized, allowing companies to control the purchase and consumption of food products. During this time, processed cereals became 

promoted as one of the first health foods (Mintz). In addition, advertisers linked food to the industrial expansion of America through advertisements. This Coca-Cola ad links their product to the time period when mass production was an important concept in American development. With a buzzing city with skyscrapers in the background, one can enjoy a Coke while watching America grow.

 In the early 1900’s, meal prices sank and rich ingredients became popular. During the time period, sugar was less of a dietary concern. The average person consumed 65 pounds of sugar annually (Leite). During this time, processed foods like Marshmellow Fluff and domineering food brands like Kellogg began to appear. More chain lunch counters and cafeterias appeared, increasing the need more mass-produced food items (Mintz). Muckraking journalists exposed insufficient health standards, which lead to banning of unsafe food additives and inspections of food industries. This link to enhancing health was also related to heightening the purity and wholesomeness of food. Although the 1920’s society began to see health as an issue, salads, a meal often associated with health, were still considered strange at dinner tables and were not introduced until the 1930’s at a time when food was scare and vegetables served as substitute for meat dishes (Leite).

World War I in the 1940’s spurred the establishment of a new food revolution. Prepared food became more common, but in support of the war came the creation of Victory Gardens. The use of Victory Gardens made naturally growing food important, and the mass growth of vegetables in gardens fattened vegetable cook book sections (Leite). The war also created a higher diversity of fresh produce year round. This growth towards naturally prepared meals changed with the transportation evolution in the 1950’s. Due to the highway systems, mass production of food was made easier and bland foods like frozen TV dinners where an epidemic in residential homes (Leite). These periods in history show how American societies flip back and forth between their food identities and desires. With social and political unrest, nutrition of foods becomes most important. With expansion of America, mass production of food is most important and food health quality takes a back seat. In the 1960’s, growth of the middle class and unrest with the Vietnam War lead to a “hippie” mentality of unprocessed foods made from scratch (Leite). This is when hummus, another food associated with health, was made famous.

The seventies and eighties show a difference in the way Americans ate. Iconic cooking icon, Alice Walters, emphasized the importance of natural ingredients. Also, the portion sizes began to change. Class played an influential roll in the concept of paying more to eat less, creating meals with pricy ingredients from scratch (Leite). However, what really propelled the movement of health food is the 1990’s. The late 20^th century is when companies began to transform into healthier brands, making all natural, reduced fat products. These changes in companies and advertisers are what allowed the organic food movement to play such a detrimental role in today’s food culture.

Organic food is defined as organic farming without the use of pesticides, fertilizers, genetically modified organisms, or food additives (Albala, Allen 288). Eating organic is not only healthy for the body, it is also environmentally sustainable. This bond with nature resembles a pure, clean relationship. Large natural food supermarkets like Whole Foods began to pop up in the 1980’s and 

organic brands began to partner with conventional food companies, like the fusion of Cascadian Farms with General Mills (Albala, Allen 289). Other wide scale companies like Heinz, Gerber, Kelloggs, and Campbells soup acquired organic brands. Even the superpower Walmart plans to double their offering of organic products (Albala, Allen 291). This shows how important companies role is in promoting healthy food alternatives.

 Advertisers have evolved their campaigns to mimic the food trends over time. For example, Heinz ketchup has transformed their ads to focus centrally on health versus taste. The 1900’s Heinz advertisement resembles tradition and flavor while the recent ketchup ad focuses on health and less additives like sugar. This illustrates how our society has become more health conscious over time and how important nutrition is in America today. It is rare to enter a grocery store and sift through items without finding at least one healthier alternative to a typical meal.

Organic food has become one of many food trends for many reasons. Expensively priced all natural food acts as a class marker. Even advertisers manufacture their packaging in a way to target certain audiences. This similar trend is seen in Freedman and Jurafsky’s analyzing of potato chip advertisements. Freedman and Jurafsky placed importance on complex language, health, and authenticity and how it relates to higher/lower class audiences. While expensive potato chips often include more educated languages and more words in general, inexpensive potato chips tend to be more basic and straightforward. Also, all of the more expensive potato chip bags had the word “all natural” on their labels, focusing on how all natural food is targeted towards a specific class status.

 The rise in organic food also has political significance, like the rise in vegetarian, all natural diets. For example, when I visited Illegal Petes, I recognized a wide variety of vegetarian, gluten free options. This is not something most restaurants would have had even ten years ago. Organic food also acts as a mechanism to resist corporate food practices including mass production and the use of unhealthy ingredients (Mintz).

Health has always been important in food practices in America, but the relationship between food and health has strengthened over time. The significance of health has increased for political, environmental, personal, and social reasons. Also, the influence of body image as portrayed in the media and advertisements promotes a slim figure, and with obesity rising in America, it is important all brands focus on becoming more health conscious. Today, it is about how much you eat and what effect that has on one’s body. Instead of enjoying food for its taste or rich, salty ingredients, we choose to indulge on a healthier snack instead and eating the unhealthy food is often followed by guilt. The food we put into our mouths is based more on what is better for our bodies and better for the environment. The pressure to be thin and to eat healthy is what has allowed the all natural foods to make such an impact on the food industry. America has adopted a culture of high pressure to look good and be successful, and one of the ways to do so is through good health. By promoting health in the food industry, companies, government, and advertisers can work together to further promote the health and wellbeing of American society.

           

Work Cited

Allen, Gary J. & Albala, Ken, ed. (2007). The business of food: encyclopedia of the food and drink industries. ABC-CLIO. p. 288. 2007. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. <http://books.google.com/books?id=gNzmOUyiFRAC&pg=PA288#v=onepage&q&f=false>.

Leite, David. "Dining Through the Decades: 100 Years of American Foods." Leite's

Culinaria. Leite's Culinaria Inc., 16 Dec. 1999. Web. 24 Apr. 2012.

<http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/food.cfm>.

Mintz, Steven. "Food in America." Digital History. Hyperhistorian, 23 Apr. 2012.

Web. 24 Apr. 2012.< http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline /food.cfm>.