FDA: A Trip Down Memory Lane

I have come to the realization that the majority of my posts have been about the social aspects of food, their culture, and how food is perceived around the world. Therefore, to broaden my horizons, I thought it necessary to touch on a different perspective of food, specifically, the political implications of food itself.

The Food and Drug Administration can be considered the most powerful and influential entity over the entire food in industry in our country. Today, the FDA focuses on protecting our health, from food inspections to making sure that medicines are safe. Even if we don't realize it, the FDA helps us stay healthy and safe.

But the history of the FDA is quite interesting, and reflects how much the food industry has changed and grown in just over 100 years. In 1906, Theodore Roosevelt passed the Pure Food and Drug Act as well as the Meat Inspection Act. In these acts, many new regulations for food safety and cleanliness were passed. In the former, all harmful foods are prohibited, and all foods are required to have ingredients on their labels. In the latter, government agents began to monitor the quality of meats using their own funds, showing that Washington was willing to set aside a part of their own budget to insure safety and cleanliness within their nation's food industry.

However, you might ask, what sparked the passing of such bills? A great deal of this can be attributed to a single novel. The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair. In his famous novel, Sinclair exposes the horror that is the American meat packing industry. By describing dirty plants with extremely unsanitary conditions, Sinclair finally brought attention to a pressing issue in America in the early 1900's. Upon reading this book, Roosevelt ordered federal investigations to see if the claims were true, and after he learned they were, began to act.

Though the specific historical details of such acts may bore you, I find them fascinating. When there was something wrong with the food system in our country, the President himself stepped in to help. The food industry is one that effects every single person in our country, and it attracted the whole nation's attention. Food has the power to influence the politics and the laws that define our nation.

Peace out, and rock on.