This timeline marks the epic events in which America has seen significant changes brought to its food culture
Created by cheermc on May 5, 2010
Last updated: 05/05/10 at 09:31 PM
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A study by the FDA in 2002 found that food additives and food flavoring generated 1.4 billion dollars in annual sales. Some food flavorings are safe but most make low qualitiy ingrediants more tasteful. For example, McDonald's adds a "chicken flavor" to their McNuggets to improve their taste.
http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/additives/
Though there was reference of obesity made as early as the 1860s, it was only referred to with cattle. It was not until the 1980s that doctors and news media began using the term to describe overweight humans and their health risks associated with it.
http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=30052
Though it had been used in farms long before 1960, it was only then that farmers introduced the word organic. People suddenly became interested in what type of ingredients went into the making of their food. This increased awareness enacted a need for more regulation in farming and the way a farmer treated his crops.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Organic-Food-History-and-Current-Trends&id=989817
Farmers were first reported giving their cattle growth hormones in 1956. It was called DES (diethylstilbestrol), made legal in 1954 by the FDA. The number of growth hormones used streadily increased over the years. Fast forward to 2004- the veal industry was found was found guilty of injecting 90% of its calves with growth hormones.
http://genetichemistry.com/genetic-science/growth-hormones-in-food/
After Dic and Mac McDonald invented their speedy drive-through burger restaurant, America was introduced to fast food. Ray Kroc was the man responsible for taking it global. He prided his chain on having the same tasting food at every location in the country.
http://www.mcdonalds.ca/pdfs/history_final.pdf
After doctors stopped prescribing amphetamines to their patients because they were becoming addicted to the appetite in them, marketers found a new way to reach the image-obsessed. The Carlay Company in Chicago came out with what they called a candy appetite suppressant. The chewy chocolates were called Aydes. They were sold throughout the 1970s and 80s.
http://www.docshop.com/2008/02/11/a-short-history-of-diet-pills-and-weight-loss-drugs-part-one/
Anorexia Nervosa was first written in medical literature in 1873 but traced its roots further back in history. Today, most North American anorexia patients are female caucasians who are economically well off. The American Psychiatric Association says about 1 in 50 women will experience the disease over the course of their lifetime.
http://www.drreddy.com/eatingdisorders/anorexia.html
Jean Gilbert Julien created the first restaurant in America in 1793 in Boston. He modeled the restaurant closely after the taverns already established. Using Parisian influence, the specialities on Julien's handwritten menu were his soups.
http://victualling.wordpress.com/2008/07/19/americas-first-restaurant/
When the colonists came to Jamestown, Virginia after leaving Mother England, they had no choice but to eat from the land. Although many died of starvation, the main source of food for the colonists was fish and turtles.
http://www.preservationvirginia.org/exhibit/eats.html?process=0
The word "diet" is first used to describe some restriction of a normal food intake. In the 14th century, it was known as a regime. The word became popular in prisons when they referred to the "bread and water diet." From the 19th century to present times, the word diet is now assimliated with fasting. Dieting hit its popularity peak in the 1980s and 90s in America.
http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2008/11/13/when_did_dieting_begin.php
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