Variety in the Diet

For the workingman near the turn of the 20th century, diets were usually monotonous. Meats, fruits and vegetables, and milk had to be produced locally. The customary winter diet in one midwestern city during the 1890's was described in the following terms:

Steak, roasts, macaroni, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, cole slaw, fried apples, and stewed tomatoes, with Indian pudding, rice, cake, or pie for dessert. This was the winter repertoire of the average family that was not wealthy, and we swapped about from one combination to another, using pickles and chow-chow to make the familiar starchy food relishing. We never thought of having fresh fruit or green vegetables and could not have got them if we had.

Food eaten by the average worker in the United States today is more varied and more healthful, and for lower income workers it is also more bountiful, than it was at the beginning of the century. Today's family market basket has a little less food in terms of calories and considerably fewer carbohydrates than the 1900 basket, but it contains more proteins, minerals, and vitamins. This comes from the use of fewer potatoes, breads, and heavy desserts, and more meat and poultry, eggs, fruits, vegetables, and milk.

In the merging of many ethnic groups, this country has achieved a widely varied diet. Nearly every nation of the world has contributed its unique dishes, and in many instances those once exotic foods have become part of our daily diet, widely available on the shelves of stores. Such items as spaghetti, pizza, chow mein, enchiladas, kippers, and shishkebab remind us of our dietary debt to other countries.

The availability of these foods, as well as the indigenous staples of the American diet, to families in all income ranges, in all seasons of the year, has been achieved largely by technological developments. The fresh meats, formerly very difficult to obtain during the summer months, are now readily available at any time through the use of modern refrigeration. Cities are no longer dependent on produce from nearby truck farms. Lettuce from the Imperial Valley of California, tomatoes from Florida, peas and beans from Ohio, oranges from California, Florida, and Texas, and numerous other perishable foods flow -- and in some cases literally are flown -to Boston, New York, Chicago, Seattle, New Orleans, and other cities during much of the year. These are the benefits of refrigerated high-speed transportation, supported in turn by mass buying power and public recognition of the importance of those foods in a balanced diet.