"And Serve the Cause of Freedom": American Food Conservation in the First World War. Issue 1 (2nd January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nordstrom, Justin
• Is Part Of: Global food history. Volume 3:Issue 1(2017)
• Page Start: 40
• Page End: 65
• Publication Date: 2017-01-02
• Subjects: First world war -- Herbert Hoover -- U.S. food administration -- Government propaganda -- Food conservation -- Utopianism and foodways; Food habits -- History -- Periodicals; Food preferences -- History -- Periodicals; Diet -- Economic aspects -- Periodicals; 394.1209
• DOI: 10.1080/20549547.2017.1272040
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2054-9547

Abstract

Abstract: This article argues that the United States Food Administration (USFA) employed contradictory imagery and rhetoric to motivate Americans to conserve wheat, beef, sugar, pork, and other essential foods during the First World War. While USFA posters emphasized patriotism, solidarity, and euphoric national loyalty, they simultaneously employed dystopian portrayals of hunger, chaos, and madness. Yet neither uplifting nationalism nor overt fearmongering significantly altered the food choices of many Americans. While USFA efforts did adjust food consumption in some categories, in the aggregate, Americans ate more restricted foods during the war as compared to prewar levels. America played a role in alleviating food shortages in the 1910s as a result of increased farm production, not decreased consumption.