The Adaptations of the United States to a Changing Diet, from the Early to Late Twentieth Century

Changes in American diet.

August 26, 2004

Outline of Paper

I. Introduction

A. This paper will consider the adaptations of the United States to a changing diet, from the early to late twentieth century.

B. The purpose of this project is to research the evolution in American cuisine throughout the 1900s, towards a more convenience-based pattern of food consumption. The modernization of the United States, particularly in terms of the workforce, will be examined as it relates to a changing diet. Finally, some effects of these changes will be described.

II. Background: Early Twentieth Century Cooking

III. Modernization of the United States

A. Women in the Workforce

B. Technological Advances in Food Preparation

C. Less Time Spent in the Kitchen

IV. Changes in American Diet

A. Background: Early Twentieth Century Cuisine

B. The Rise of Convenience Foods

1. Prepackaged and frozen foods

2. Fast food industry

3. Eating away from home

C. Nutrient Levels, 1900-present

D. Increase of Fats and Sugars in the American diet

E. Increased Food Consumption

V. Discussion

A. Qualifications

B. Conclusions

C. Suggestions for Further Study

VII. Works Cited

Introduction

This paper will explore the culturally adaptive, yet physically maladaptive, changes in American diet from early to late twentieth century. A shift from traditional to convenience foods coincides with the general modernization of the United States, specifically in the role of women in the home and in the workforce. As America changes from a rural nation to one that is urban and industrialized, with rapidly increasing technology, more and more women are seen in the workforce. This increased activity allows less time for preparing meals, and modernization makes spending this time unnecessary. However, increased accessibility of food, and especially convenience food, leaves late twentieth century America with a high prevalence of obesity, which can lead to numerous health problems.

The purpose of this paper is to review the literature relating to the changes in American diet in the twentieth century. Background will be presented on American food preparation, and the process of modernization will be analyzed. Moreover, the specific alterations to food patterns will be documented, as a parallel to modernization. The negative consequences of the late twentieth century diet will be summarized lastly.

Background: Early Twentieth Century Cooking

The early 1900s saw most American meals prepared in the home by women, characteristically housewives. Caring for the home was considered a full-time career for married women, and the work associated was typically legitimate as such, with the average woman spending forty-four hours a week preparing (and cleaning after) meals, with an additional seven hours for laundry and general housecleaning (Bowers, 2000). Food was prepared from scratch, using coal or wood stoves and water that often needed to be transported from a pump (Bowers, 2000). And this food was prepared for an average household size of 4.8 family members (Bowers, 2000). In 1900, sixty percent of the U.S. population lived in rural areas, and women also did much of the gardening and canning as necessary (Bowers, 2000).

Modernization of the United States

With the spread of the Industrial Revolution, America became increasingly urbanized, with the urban population surpassing the rural population by 1920 (Bowers, 2000). The technological revolution in agriculture did much to move families into the city, as did the higher wages in urban occupations (Bowers, 2000). By 1930, eighty-five percent of non-farm dwellings were wired for electricity (Bowers, 2000), and the spread of interstates and other national roads after World War II likewise facilitated the move to the cities (Goodman, 2002). America became more educated and more affluent as the century progressed, and these changes implicated changes also in the American workforce (Goodman, 2002).

Another source indicates that over seventy percent of all women were in the workforce by 2002 (Goodman, 2002). More women at work indicate that fewer women are considered full-time housewives. And men are not taking on these full-time house care roles in the American home.

As shown, in 2001, 70.8 percent of men and 57.3 percent of women over the age of 16 were in the United States workforce. Although hours worked per week are not included in this survey, it can be reasonably inferred that the role of homemaker has been gradually minimized since the early 1900s, an inference that may also be drawn from observation of a typical American family today. Dual income households have become the norm. One study claims that by 1998, only twenty-five percent of married couples consisted of a husband in the labor force and a stay-at-home housewife (Bowers, 2000). Since 1960, the number of one-parent households has increased from 9.1 percent to 27.3 percent in 1998, another situation resulting in less time spent in the home (Bowers, 2000).

Technological advances in food preparation

The trend of an increasing labor force seen throughout the twentieth century is one mark of America's modernization and urbanization. However, the most definitive characteristic of modernization could arguably be described as increasing technology, a process that augments the need for and time available for employment. So technological advances, related to cooking or otherwise, parallel and are both the cause and the effect of an increased workforce (we work for greater technology, which gives us time to work at something else). The twentieth century saw great changes in the way that food is cooked, making preparation of meals more convenient and less time consuming. The spread of electric power