The Changing Significance of Food MARGARET MEAD ‘We liv in a wort today whece the sate of nation in each country i elevant and Imporeant ea cach other epanty, ad where the tate of nutition inthe wealthy indus found siicanc forthe role that such ovaing for adequate mutton thrvgh teased counties ike the United Sates as ‘ountres an playin eliminating fanned fut the world Ina world'n which each half knows what the other half Joes, we cannot lve with hunger and malrutriion in one pat ofthe work while people in anocher part are nor only well nunsbed, but overnsurished. Any talk of one world, of brother: ood, ings hollow to theae the emacition of tans children ado the people whose chldeen are staring as they pore over month-old ites of glossy American and European mafazines, whee fll olor pring show people slowing with health, thee plates pled high with food tha is tens to match the shining exures of theirclothes. Peoples who have revoutly tightened their bls and pat up wit going ro bed hungry, peoples who have seen thie children tie because they didnot hve the strength tore disease, and called it fae or te wll “1 Go cam no longer dou, in she seid ws realization of the amount sad quality ‘fod esten=and wasted osbes "Though human here there have hen many sringene boone watching other sop eat or on ering nthe prssenge of others. There have been arempts to explain is ava aaionship between those who are volved and those who ate no simula neously involved inte station ofa boy ned, andthe inappropriarenes ofthe Steady satiated watchingothers who appear—to the said be shames gorse tng. There is unwed such an element in the taboos, hut acems more likly that to-affer them half of the itl food one had was unthinkable and every lance was 4 plea fra least a bite inthe ural schools of America when my grandmother was acid the berter-ff chi reno aplesroxchooland,belorethey began oat them. promised th poor chien who had no apples that thy night have the cores. The spectacle ofthe oe in res at the rch man's ate and of hungry children presing ce noses against chess win low ofthe rich man’s resturant have lng ben invoked to arouse human compassion Dur unl he auien of are media and ave thesrave and ympatheis could puachabeaes Stang eon way sms esha he waving byes have come fae to face on the eleision screen withae 12 Manger Mead a piece of meat “ihe sizeof a childs head” anally. The starving i Inia and China “ste only ew festing foreigners and could not know hove wel orl he por we in ouneres rm wich hey came. The proud poor hid their hungee behind fade hat ‘fen included inastent hospialiy ro the occasional visto the heats asnee thie hunger and so, to degre, discredited the hunger of thir respectable compat. But coday the arcuate cic f the hungry fil sbeaizehannels and there sno esape from the Ftwledse of the hundreds of millions who are serkusy ealnourished, ofthe eed famines tht eset whole populations oro the looming danger amine many ‘the parts ofthe world. The age-old divisions beweenonepartof the word and another erwsen oneclassand nother, bertcen the ric and he poor everywhere have heen he en down and the rlerances and insensvities of the pasate no longer posible Tut is nt only the media of communication which en a sting at an overloaded beak ast table saight nto Rousebalathste same athe hideen ae too ETO ena] STA, somthing even more spicata happened. Today, Tor te Tat dine the history of mankind, we have the productive capac fe “GaP NEST hater bodies are propel nourished withthe essential ingredients for trovwth and eal. The rogers of saulureinaliteconpexiies of mproved sed thechods of cukivacion, Freier and pesados methods of storage, peervaton and transportation mae it possi or the fod tha is ceded othe whole word tobe produced by fewer and ew snd oo sal sre, but we have the mca to prepare fo and del with even mam tmoth shortages we wil The progres of uioal scence has mache the progress "hagecure: we have ner an Ser arained knowledge of jn which substances “taming nie proteins are eset especially to growth and hl development, nd increasing ably to sytesie many of them on a tase sak “Thee new nwntethcentury porncalies hie eed the ehical pa he _scallovertBe dda the pst, thee were so few who ive well, anlso many who Ton tec of starvation that the well-dohad rationale an indeed lost 9 pers rohardon thei ent od tradi ees away. The wel the ices jah “oul nx have purchased enough foo ro fed bis hungry subjects or more tam few “ays the fod dl noc exis, an the knowledge of ow o ase was mining lo. At he sume ine however el einai of a wartorm ad soni inged Brian fo ‘eapond oth famine Bengal this inability was made barablen Briain ony by the xen ow te Bri wee learning how to share what fod they hal ang all he zens nd young, “You donot know” the American cons, who had come (> Manchester fro Spain silt ne: "yom donot know what i mca olive 8 tunty where nachidhas oct sl toleep wich hanger" Bur hn wae oly achieved in Brain nthe ey 1940s Before she well fd ured away tei eyes i the king hat they were pores to aleviate the perenil poverty and hunger of most of thet ‘own people an he peoples in hei fang commonwealth. And such turning ay the eyes in Britan amin the United Seater sad eewhere, was accompanied bythe ‘sinazns rt onl they ofthe welt do fad they sven al char ah ed th po bt ofthe ndeeringnes of the por whohadthey only Bee nds Sindsving wouldhave ha enough, liouprofeeusc of ower quality keep “hod rere reater anal rete certain. Drought When di receseaily Sch maces the pub or meager pa thon bere erop om tical acre have been: the bene The par naire the the agricul and armac feedandes deal thes To this, peoples m Forte simpler M thet frome ster he hy Sestectio food let rmighe use ity on the The es cally oft sans th semy int the begin inaly prox ‘With ¢ sade thehe Changing Siuiicaneof Food b ‘When differences in race and in cultural levels complicated the situation, twas only £00 easy toss that leser breeds somehow in some divinely corec scheme, would acess he less well fc hee alleged idleness and lack of fray combining ith such mater a sacred cows roaming ove the landscapey—in India-oe nights spent in the pub or the saloon—at home in Britain ar America-while fathers deank vp ther meager pay checks and ther chldeen starved, Se righteous was the assumed ssoct son berween industiousnessandfood tha, during the Tak Tinersoup Esher ee “SePU OUT OT cown so atthe starving could have the moral advange of long walk ‘0 recsve the ration that sood between them and death The modern versvon ef wach tthical acrobatics canbe found inthe Unite States in the mid-1960s, wher fond stamps were o expensive, since they had to be bought in large amount, chat only those whe have been extraordinary fal saving, and lucky could afford to buy them and obtain he enetis they were designed to give) The particular waysin which the well-zo-doof diferent great civilztionshaveetio "alized the contrast between eich and poor have difered dramatically, but ever once the agricultural evolution, we have been running a ace between oue capacity to peo ‘duce enough food tomake possible assemble great urhan center, cute huge srs and armadas, and build and elaborate the insittions of civilization and our sil to feed and are foe the burgeoning population which has always kepe litle, offen great seal, ahead of the food surply. E Pe soxitein which the enre population was engaged in subsistence ast, Primi ‘eoples may be well or poorly fed, feasting Seldom or blessed with ample supplies of Fish or fruit, bu the elations berween the haves the have-nots were nary ways simpler Methods by whichmen could obain permanent supplies of fd an nhhond them fom her fellows hay existed. The sour, barely edible breadruit mash which as stored i brea pis against the ravages of hurricanes and fame in Plvne, sia was nota diet forthe tase of chiefs buta stem measure agaist the needs of ering ommunites. The chie might havea ight to the st fut, otto hal he cop, bur afer he had claimed i it vas redisriboted co his peor. The gerne ofthe kinds of inequities tat Ltr enteredthe world were preset: there was occasional spc struction of food, pled upfor prestige, ol pouredon the ames of el glonfng ees, food lefto ror ater its elered othe sight use phrases that made seem that each man was the reviient of pret genevos ty on the par of his fellow. or on the other han always to be giving away 4 whe animal, and always resiving only small bts The fear of cannibalism thar hovered over northern peoples might be elaborated into alts of fea or simply add tothe concen shat each member of group fad fora, sins he ternible background that extremity might become 30 gest eat one ofthe 'roup might ithe end be steiced. But cannibalism could algo be elaborated nto rte of vengeance or the celebration af victories in wat, or even be use to provision am ‘semy inthe fed. Man's capacity ta claborate man's inhumanity to maa exted before ‘he besnning of civilization, which was made possible by the application of wn neteoe ingly productive technology tothe production of food "With he is of latin we a mimes the pom of he ra eign ha this those soeises which practiced agrculuce contrasted withthe eater sim As Pople with very meager food resourcesmy pons asp rlgis practices Bu the alms were never enough, and 1 hie ot int poverty and abstinence Was moe lfcaious tor the indians sivawn dhan or the well-being ofthe por and hungry, alhagh both Kepe sine ve ns et mpl of ulfllment, eh ws right that all sould be fed The von proved the capability high apabiitis and such uly enunciated statements of respon aa means that feeding the people thc ‘her countries i almost red out, except for spo raliceseais pies behavior whore eople who cose ther eyestohungerin Masso ‘om work hard 0 send fond toa “Biafra.” The development the merauioea nae ments mec frdemergenies and to eaily improve the mutton te ore stung wl al, ules there sweater consistency hetween ideal and pacts se owe, And so, our present paslous plight inthe United States with the meny pockets of ‘ural unemplonnent, city ghetos, ethnic enclaves, where Americans are seeing ane an estimated tech ofthe population malnourished; must be Viewed nor only nie con wreves. a a viable polities! community, fatal as forthe work. We nee to examine not only the conditions that make ths pone [ have starving reople the richest country in the world, but alo the reperevee of American condtions on the word scene = ay to remedying the state of he American prople who had heen described by presidental snnuncemeny ‘hid ilPhoused, leslohedy and ed” but vanished ada variety en the vitamin deiseney diseases had ll instrument for better nition had heen developed did \e ind, jus tw short years ago dae othe urgent pleading ota ew crusaders tharos ‘hve fallen so grevously behind? The uation i cimplen chsey relied trusses fo egal and racial istic, tothe spread of automation and reuapnens Plyment ergs incrop economies, swell to population growth and he inadequacy st del with Bur Tish ro single out here two cantons which have, hav, seriously contbuted to our indgess co what sarees peel ‘he increase in th diseases of affluence SHU Fhe BUNT commercal sgrculeee, Ts counteypronoaieed ony twenty Years Before to be one Tints we sud ery began to ave pronouncement om atrtonal spect hat he major nureicna seas ofthe American people was overnitridon, Ifths had simply meant wean the old puritan ebissagsnst greed and lattony might have been more easy rok botit was oxernuriion that was ar stake And this ina country where our idea of re ‘on ha been dominated bya dichotomy which distinguished toad that was god for Yous utnat gual trom food! that was “good, bur not Baad Tor jar” This splice san’ needs, te oor CU cof me Fee TOF nourishment 34 ch for pleasure arignally symbolized in the ewands Tor EAE spinach or ishing hae was on one} plat if one wanted to have a desert, ay ack the movement meray. nonnourishing foods. Beverages and snacks came in parcuoey for this demand, sit was the aditon of eeween-mesi cating td onlly adequate meals a day that was esponsble for cho Weber sniced ot Tepper sourshing well nour esa, h much to d overt Sersible da ould not Tews “TTR inners ae Fue i at when tha under Hi believeth de of co an the-« clire OF Tres pac of the On the tonoursh Fad ear Surpluses represents ‘tod, k lislefami The Changing Spies fond 45 Shamanism nasaiingl ethndboconaterem | “ihe prearton of rode cesar for hie and growth o fonds nnexpenve cape pares expensive o Buy. Ant very lel sessuing the berth the prod a at ishing rented our ee thie rouble with Areas na tat hey wel noe. Theisen of alae, epeseted by new fort of death in i fad appeared blr we had in che wonds of lem Mayes who ar dos inch deine the neds ofthe country an ofthe wold congue the dese of poverty ed pean women an acting women, sometimes erlang te Serle damage tothe loveaned chien the school Cten so pod fed ta hey {iewas hard for the average American to believe that while he steuggled, and paid, so]. (part of the world, serious food surpluses. eee (On the face of i, his sound as Folch asthe production of foods guaranteed pot Ww nourish, and che two arenot unrelated. Surpluses ina word where people ae hun Bp To msc ohms word where chen petal Tere Teapot al polar surpass, sachs cotton and tobacco, along with food, an we se ehese Porplovs a threatening che commercial prosperey of many counties, and farmers in ‘any counties. Andina wotd politically onganizes on vanishing agrarian basis thin ents apolitical hreatto those in power However much the eniginal destruction 1 food, ling ile pps, may have ben phraved as relieving the desperate situstion of Fie tarmers or poor counts dependent upon singe crop exports, schituatons could fet exist if food as something which msn needs to provide growth and maintenance Bb ot been separated to mmmercial as opposed to abasicPoneto an ninseisl geal aa tite sects ingtooee ‘in hs station, in the Und Stats, sin part sponsible or he previous ate four por and banyan forthe prays thas prevents adequate politcal ation During the greatdprssio, aclu i hicountry wars wle way a ie for milion. TheDagasient of Aereltre ha espns, at only fo fond prod son and market, bab Torte wl om thera che rive nthe ple nos human ee of eer Tay who lived in communes under 2,300, Where the Fas ton, Chen's Bureau, Labor Department-there ws til comalerabe amount of ineratin pss ble the Department of Agree, where theory and pra of farm wives, the education of cldren and youth the sons sl la for sal landowner all wou be considered together I at nthe Depctment of Assicaltare tharconceredrerons ound dig the depreson tc kindof undratanding of as human neds which hey sought There were idee sway ons benacen the needs needs of urban man were parceled cu annong a umber of agencies —Oiice faxmers to ul erops and the need of chien tbe Fed, School lunch scenes were ed tothe disposal of sr pls commoditi. But the cognition of the wholenes of human needs was stil here, Femly eared co the breadth of she responsible ofthe diferent agencies within the Department of Agecuture. Tandy his ino Joage so. Agrculute eau the lst Seats, The subsides used to persuade farmers co witha thei impoverihed Tand from peedccton, ike the tele measures invlving the slaughter of litle Pits no lner sys of helping che smal farmer oma family farm, The subsidies goto the rich commercial farmers, many of them the inheritors ool exploveplaneation teations, atl of manpower and land resources, often in she vey counties whete the farm workers displaced by machines, repens, to po ing. These subsesexced the budget of che atipoverty administration, Sodas, mamyof the rlorans which are suggested n the dsribut teurion of inccme trom which fond cam be bough, center on removing fod Flic programs fom ne Department of Agriculeare and placing them under the Departinent Heath, Education, and Wella. In Britain, daring World Wae It as necessary to havea Ministry c Food, conceened primal in matching che limited food supplies with asc need, Ae fest sght, his proposal s sound enough. Let us emove from an agency devoted to making a proi out of evs that age treated ike anyother manuletured product the response foe seeing that fond actully fess people. Afterall we do not ask ‘clothing manufacturers take the responsi or lchng people, or theouse-building industry fo housing them. To the extent that we eecounize then a all these ae the esponsiblitis cf agencies of governnent which provide the fan to supplement the seis of private industry. Why not alo in food? The Department af Health, Ed and Welhre is concerned with human bigs; they have no food to sll on 3 Hlomestc of worl marker and no constituents o appease. Aad tom this step is sim ply a second step to demand tha the whole sytem of disstbution he eared, that the govern Bnet Feation, Fesly eet ompatne food ont of ‘eadwith biiny of foe seve bem ditions of Foor lsh dards ot th potenti, ess and ukmately can provid problem may make Serie elat the eons itv ncede, aleomn he marvel nationale felze a by resinshascguranredannualincome be provided each cizen, onthe one hand nd that the goverment police stardards, on behal ofthe consumes onthe the. Banter ofthe char fing fond ref progam nm deur eat, Education, and Welareor fing the whole well program into a giarantced income, telly eet the parla ificules chat aie because we ace puting ood into eo ompariments with disastrous effects we are separating fod that nourishes people from taal our of wich om pope snd Sn conte ae Tarim ert ‘eal with te tmmedacy Othe experienc of food by the welled, or withthe irepara bility of fod deprivation during prenatal and postnatal growth, deprivation that can never be made up. Humantings have maintained thir dgiy in incredibly bad con ions of housing and clthing, emerged triumphant from huts ad log cabins, gone from iltshu childhood to Wall Sree or the Keel, Poor housing ad poor clothing sre deneaing tothe han spine when the contest shagpiy sth the vib tan dards ofthe way oters ive But food affects nt onfr man’s dignity bu the capacity of cikren to reach hei fll potential and the apacty of adults oa fom day to day. You ca eat either tr thon or part of nor ye ceed guaranteed anal inom, of politcal promises, You Can' cat hope. We know tha hope and faith have enormous eft in preventing il tes and enabling people pot forth the last ounce of energy they have But energy is imately dependent uponod. No amount of errangsment of prcetesn heute Can provide fod in the present. eis tre that the starving adult his eiceney enor move impaired by ack of food, may wsvally be brought back agin to hs previous State of ffiiency, But sis aat ue hlden, What i ses ost for goo, ‘What we do abou food therefore far more crcl both forthe quality othe next eneation own Amerkan children, andchldren everywhere, an alo forthe a iy of our responsible action in evry Gel. Ws intmaely concerned with the whole problem ofthe polluon an exhaustion of our envionment, wth the danger har man thay make thi planet uninhabitable within a shore century ot 0. I fod i grown in sit relationship tothe neds of those who will tif every efforts made to edice the costs of transportation to improve storage to conserve the lad, and thee, whece itis needed, by eyeing wastes nd wate, we wil go long wy toward solving many of our environmental protlems as. Iis a. responsible gardener on a small ited ot, aware ofthe community about him wth whore wil fe adequate food o famine that man has developed what conserving agricultural techniques we have oop ce primary function seated simply 2 a commer dal commodiy fod es spr clanfismineT ase Bnd Coneervd: The Food ad Agriculture Organization, intent on food prextution, lays Feat tess on the increas in the use of artical erties, et the use of such fer _erswith hei dfse unofsmay bea greater danger 0 ou Total ecology than the indus vases rom oer forms of manulactaring. The same thing i eve of pst ‘themarvels of miracleric ena miracle whext, hich have brought the esource national efor and sew esoutes together, goa preset prescription for stil feline nd pei, The nee indosiond oan exporting wth impo yeeros: ne angst ie sienme af thempomcounies. Onlyeds of people and only ssond to the net of commercial nasesiy—whether hey “Tike needs pins GUESpRIFOFOTs developing socal country short of foign Sti arent fed will ier inte case of children be permanenty damage. "Wears et hang wo develop a word conerence Ou preseGeia i dee peso MEME THES Wi napa TRE, Wah the spread of publi Teal peasuen, we would ot have had he linn dent ats wha ened inthe population explosion. Withou the spread of agricultural echnagues here would not have bee the ood fo fed the chien who survived The old cota upon population growth—faine plac and wir—are no ger asepabl to world whe Sonscnne a thar sicnagon teal ofall askind Aa we ae poping out way hack toa nw vesion af the lll fing and respec force natural wold which the primi Emo fk when food war sete 20 we are wembing on he eof 3 nc version of serie wo conto othe weak, hat we fae te ecicl mplemt visions of responsiblity that wee very receny only wstons. The tempeatios is o turn aside, to deny tha is happening vo the envcooment, 9 reuse 0 the “pram evolution” and boast of how mich rice previously hungry coun tres wil export, 0 argue about legals wile people stave and infants and children ne reparably damaged oreite ro del withthe paradoxes of hunger im plenty, and 7 ical geoblemscan be so only with al px tel The children ofthe agricultural workers of eral South displaced by the machine, are hungry; so athe chiken inthe Nowthern cites co which back and white poor have ted in searen of fou. On our Arescan Indian reservations, among the Chivas {f Caldfloria andthe Southwest among the Seasonally employed, there is hunger now. IWehishamger isn mer nosy we disgualyoarseles, we cripple ourselves, to deal with ‘world pean. ‘We mus balarce ose population so that every chil thats boen can be wel fed. We most cherish our and instead of mining it shat ood produce set elated chose ‘who need and've must no dspol the exe, contaminate, and pollute iti the inter ‘ses oFimmesiategain, Behind vs, st fw decades go, hes the wsion of Andee Mayer ind John Ort, the conceps of 3 world food bak, the founding of the United Nations Food and Agrcakre Organizations behind use imaginative rion and deep concern. Inthe present wehave new and various tools to make chat vision into concrete actu ty. Bat we must esol the complications of reset practice nd present conceptions the very prevsin and efficiency of our new knowlege nto provide a stumbling block to the exenie of aller umaniy Nores The Proctor Pie en bythe Sci Research Siro America [RESA) ws deine in [Ses ori withthe emphass.on hunger nd mslsrion nthe pos he sl ee. ‘ngs in Bown he Amescan Aswan for tae Advance of Sen. The abe Te ‘CRenging Sinica of Food. wat led eee Whe Hone Confer on “Fd, Nat ‘Son and Heh as sonounced nd therfore the Association wide symposia, of whch the mae on the RESA are was one, cme a Yollow-up of he White Hose Co rence athe tana pele The shaman fd seson wa Dy Jam Mayer mba son Nadas tea Them Es Goad eit ‘Chay Fart ind expe ieee ea brow hs fe‘a pote the White Hots Conference through very role water, and the panel onsite 1i Me Roberr Chon, cue Fors ecognion of hunger in Americ Nick Kotz, whose took. Lit Them tat Promise was appear wo weeks De Elf Elis Disectoe of Maternal and (Ghd eal, Ob Stat Derarament of Hel sd Mes. L-C. Dosey ofthe Now Bola ‘Gauny Furman’ Cooperate ln ot Mound Bayo, Missi o which De Mead had sed inl experince for ck people nthe ral South and whch war tbo ciel 0 eo sig ood no ‘Dring Word War I Manger Mend was exc sear of the Comite on Fou Habit ofthe Nabonal Research Cote whers se developed a heel and practi back {och relatonsip bese ne behav scence andthe murionl sens, She has wie ‘nm the tere pt deo Caaf Panera ond eral Chang hich he ee, fut by UNESCOr i 1985, and in Food Habs Research Prolene be 1950 Spc Pubcon 1205 of the National Reach Coun. 1968, Aden American Museu of Nat tal Hany New York NY (0028