Abstract
This historical survey of health and diet is intended to complement current archaeological food studies and is therefore fairly general. In the interest of painting a broad picture, this essay draws on a number of different kinds of material including period nutrition theories, cookbooks, home and professional cookery, established English-American cuisine, ethnic adaptations, and technological advances. The conglomerate suggests that health ideals and dietary practices mirrored the changing character of the century, moving unevenly from rural to urban focus through developing networks of industry, transportation, and communication. Folklore and quackery, attacked by a variety of reformers, began to give way under new scientific discoveries, social homogenization, commercialization, and government regulation.
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Ross, A. Health and diet in 19th-century America: A food historian’s point of view. Hist Arch 27, 42–56 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03374172
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03374172