Before reading Gabaccia’s Food Fights article, I had the notion that it is only since the mid-half of the 20th century, following the post-WW2 boom of corporate enterprise, that the dietary practices and culture of the American lower classes have been driving them into poor health. The article, however, lists astoundingly high figures for children’s diseases originating from poor diets during the late 19th and through the early 20th century. We may no longer be suffering from rickets and tooth decay at such rates, but it childhood obesity and diabetes, among other health issues, plague the poor at concurrent rates today.
-Semёn Plutser-Sarno
