I went down to the Archives to see the exhibit on the government’s efforts to influence the food habits of Americans over the years. It was an enlightening experience – unfortunately, photography was not allowed, and so I have none of my own pictures for this post. You can see some on the NARA website, though: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/whats-cooking/ There is a short video there with a nice overview of the exhibit.
But nothing beats actually spending a few hours studying the documents, artifacts and audio at NARA. Unfortunately, I left it until the last minute and also missed all the special events that were held, but still, a visit more than repaid the effort.
Here is some of what I learned:
The Margarine Act of 1886 resulted in higher prices for margarine than for butter. Desperadoes made money peddling bootleg butter; John Seymour was sent to the state pen for two years. “What’d they make you for, pal?” “Crimes against butter.” Right.
Pete Seeger sang “I’m A-Gonna Starve” in favor of saving the Office of Price Administration after World War II. It didn’t help – the OPA was abolished in 1947.
Upton Sinclair was aiming at labor reform, not food processing reform, when he wrote The Jungle, but it led to the passage of the Meat Inspection Act of 1906. Every Tea Party member who believes we don’t need government regulations should see the part of the exhibit covering the examples of toxic food on sale before the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act (also 1906). Poisoned candy, exploding ketchup, phony health claims – I’m glad part of my taxes goes to addressing these problems today.
The prize for Most Impressive Historical Document is a three-way tie.
(1) The invoice for Portable Soup (a concentrate, like bouillon cubes) supplied to the Lewis and Clark expedition, submitted by Meriwether Lewis in 1803.
(2) A letter detailing recommendations for the American diet based on cultural observations, by Margaret Mead acting as a consultant to the National Research Council (am I prejudiced here by my background in anthropology?).
(3) Queen Elizabeth II’s scone recipe.
Of course I must not neglect to mention the recipes for recent Presidents’ favorite dishes, from Lyndon Johnson’s Perdenales Chili to JFK’s New England Fish Chowder, to Dwight Eisenhower’s Vegetable Soup – and a somehow pathetic photo of Richard Nixon’s last meal at the White House.
What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam? The Government’s Effect on the American Diet. At the National Archives until January 3, 2012.
