CHAPTER 15
New Yorkers Biting Too Much off the Big Apple
Conclusions about the Historical and Geographic Perspective of the Food Industry
Section 4
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We all came into this investigation with our own prejudices about the importance of food. What we discovered was that every detail, no matter how small, was essential to the development of the food culture of modern New York City.
This extensive study examined the intricate evolution of the food system in New York City from pre-colonial times to the global era. These chapters assessed the changes in agriculture, diversity of food, colonial and urban food markets by looking at the increasing complexity of technology, diversity, and geography. The history of New York City’s agriculture, inhabitants, population changes, colonization, and economic activity provided specific information about changes over the past few centuries.
We collected information that contributed insight to the growth of Dutch New Amsterdam into present day New York City. In our research, we discovered patterns concerning advances in technology and their effects on food production and distribution throughout the existence of this bustling, steel-framed megalopolis. The variety of foods available to hungry New Yorkers also expanded over time with the aid of innovations such as railroads, refrigerated rail cars, and canals. Besides technological improvements, agricultural advances in milling and production greatly furthered the progression of New York City’s cuisine.
While there are numbers of factors involved in supplying New Yorkers with the food they need, certain overall trends are apparent in terms of food markets, their locations, distribution and their subsequent effects.
From the days of the Lenape and colonization of the Dutch to the thriving metropolis of today, market structure in New York has undergone necessary change. The Lenape engaged in little trade, mostly harvesting and hunting the food that would be used for their own family or small community, making “markets” infrequent and informal (if present at all). The first true markets were introduced to the new world by the Dutch, one of many traditional forms of infrastructure sourced from their urban origin. As the city grew, its markets multiplied, with one centered in nearly every neighborhood. Expansion in the diversity of foods available also paralleled the city’s growth, with exotic fruits like dragon fruit available to those who once lived where they grew naturally.
Over time, New York City experienced a change in the types and amounts of foods available. New technologies, such as the refrigerator freight car and pasteurization, dramatically increased the amount of food available to New Yorkers. Commodities such as grain and wheat could be grown in abundance. When the amount of foods available to New Yorkers increased, prices for these foods often decreased. As a result, food became more widely available to all consumers. New technologies also expanded the types of foods available in markets. By the early 1900s, New Yorkers could enjoy exotic new foods such as oranges from Florida for the first time. In the mid 1950s, even more different types of foods became available as more new technological innovations were developed. The changes in foods available to New Yorkers reflect New York’s use of innovative technologies. In addition to the shifts in the types and amounts of food available, the modes by which they were brought to consumers in New York City. Prior to the rise of the elaborate railway networks–and the National Interstate Highway System in the years to follow–food transport remained very much a local process; products were carted in on horse-drawn carriages and occasionally, motor trucks. As these infrastructural networks were built and expanded, however, food was sourced from increasingly vast distances, whether internationally (as is often the case with container-filled ships) or across states. While different modes of transport have risen and fallen across time, their subsequent integration is responsible for today’s streamlined system.
During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, legislation had played an important role in the local public market system in the regulation and prevention of illegal practices. After the enactment of the first agricultural and food laws in the early twentieth century, national food safety laws were passed, and federal agencies were established to administer those laws. The federal government’s greater involvement in food legislation serves to protect the health of consumers, and maintain higher food quality standards. Overall, legislation has played a larger role in American society from the local regulation of the primary food distribution mechanism and agricultural practices to national food safety.
Technologies were invented to create efficiency in the way food is shipped and preserved. The invention of the container in the mid-twentieth century allowed for convenience in freight movement and lowered the distribution costs. The refrigerated rail car improved the shelf life of perishable items, diversifying the foods shipped to the city. Also, the refrigerated rail cars increased the quantity of food accessible to the city. The advancements helped integrate different modes of transportation such as rail, trucks, and marine. One key trend we have since the mid-19th century is the change in location of production of New York City’s food supply. This was both intentional and incidental. As technology advanced, transportation of raw materials was made easier. Mass production was also utilized in industries such as the beer industry and the meat packing industry. As a result of increased accessibility due to the rise of mass production, resources in and around the city were depleted and polluted. New York had to look outside its borders to procure raw materials. By extending its reach across the country and across international borders, the New York City food industry increased the distance again between the source and the location of production.
Along with the overlying trends seen in the New York City’s food industry at this time, changes in geography, complexity, diversity, and technology have followed clear patterns. These themes are all interconnected, and advancements in one area often influenced changes in the others. From our research, we observed an increased use of technology in food production and distribution. Advancements in hunting and harvesting occurred early in New York’s history, and as time went on technologies involving transportation and preservation began to improve. As the technologies proved to increase food accessibility and production, advancements are constantly made to further satisfy New Yorkers’ increasing demand.
A geographic theme of outward expansion regarding food production is obvious as well. In pre-colonial New York, the Lenape Indians would constantly migrate, so they would grow and eat food locally at their new resting places. When English settlers arrived in New York, however, the first markets sprung up. Eventually, as Manhattan’s population grew, people began settling northward, and new markets opened to satisfy the demand of the public in their new location. By the 18th Century, food was brought to Manhattan’s markets from Long Island, King’s and Queen’s Counties, and even North Carolina by ferryboat. Soon, New Yorkers received food from other counties and across the country. Today, we can see that our food comes from all over the world.
The diversity of food products has also increased. From colonists introducing non-native grains and animals early in New York’s history to technological advancements allowing the transport of goods from across the world, New Yorkers have always been interested in bringing new foods into their diets. Thanks to the expansion of food production and technological advancements over time, it has become easier to grow and import a large variety of food.
It seems easier and far less complex for New Yorkers to obtain food in the twenty-first century than ever before. There is no need to spend time growing and harvesting your own crops, so the only thing standing between a New Yorker and a plateful of steamed broccoli today is a trip to the grocery store. In actuality, however, New York City’s food supply became more complicated as time went on. Food comes to New York City from vast distances, requiring an extensive transportation system to sustain a supply of fresh food. The actual production of food has gotten increasingly complicated due to the development of new technologies designed to make food both impervious to pests and time. In the twenty-first century, most food that New Yorkers eat comes from hundreds of miles away and arrives either filled with preservatives or covered with pesticides. This is a far more complex process than existed in Colonial times, when food was harvested in close proximity to people’s homes.
All the trends of our research imply that food production, regulation, education, and distribution will need to be changed and reworked as New York City’s population and improvements in technologies continue to grow. Historically, the new features of our food industries have been responses to the ever-increasing demand. The technological advances that brought the city through the Industrial age and into the modern age as one of the biggest metropolises in the world also enabled several million people to be fed on a daily basis. Presently, an enormously intricate highway system enables this whereas refrigerated rail cars that ran on set tracks permitted this in the past. Millions of trucks now follow routes that are subject to change regularly according to their needs. New routes are added and old ones are reconfigured as food industries adjust to accommodate New York’s growing population.
Food production moving away from the city has enabled mass production and distribution at a cost that is becoming increasingly severe. Our produce is often treated with pesticides and other unfriendly chemicals in an effort to preserve it for an unnaturally long period of time. Milk, water and other beverages are bottled out-of-state (often in non-biodegradable materials) and shipped into the city every morning, contributing to the massive amounts of daily waste. The seafood industry, over time, has overdrawn from the oceans to a destructive degree, depleting many fish populations to sizes beyond recovery. Meat is produced on factory farms, which are known for both inhumane treatment of animals and massive carbon footprints. Lastly, the larger scale factories that provide pesticides for our crops, bottles for our beverages, and the motor parts to our trucks are responsible for some of the most significant technological advances. Consequently, these factories have also been the biggest contributors to air and water pollution seen in New York City’s history.
In all of these industries, damage has been done in an effort to create an efficient assembly-line style food production. The question now becomes how to mitigate the damage. Legislation comes long after the fact and is often too little too late. Our waterways, although cleaner than they were in the 1950s, are still highly polluted. Fishing populations are still being depleted despite congressional legislation regarding careful maintenance of ocean fisheries. With increasing urbanization comes a greater need for regulatory legislation. The effectiveness and more importantly, the timeliness, of such legislation have yet to be seen.
As food markets and trade networks become more complex, it becomes more important for us to address problems like pollution and unnatural treatment of foods. Food provisioning is one of the single most important issues that we all have a hand in. As we continue on an environmentally destructive track towards an ambiguously stable future, it will become increasingly important that New York addresses this grocery-list of issues in the near future. As the city and the list continue to develop, the solution becomes difficult to achieve and even more imperative. If the city wants to continue to eat, it must carefully examine the long-term viability of its diet starting now.
