The history of food politics goes back to 1862, when the government began dictating what and how much we should eat. One important past stakeholder in food politics is Caroline Hunt (1865-1927). She worked for the USDA as a nutritionist, and in 1894 she submitted the first food recommendations to the nation. In 1916 she went on to write the first food guide: Food for Young Children. The guide separated food into five groups (basically the first food pyramid): milk and meat, cereals, vegetables and fruit, fats and fatty foods, and sugars and sugary foods. It said that people should eat a variety of food everyday, and that children in particular should drink a good amount of milk in a day. I think it would be interesting to talk to the person who first started officially suggesting what americans should eat and get an inside look from someone working for the USDA at this time.
Food Politics: A brief history
Another person who played a large role in food politics was Franklin Roosevelt (1882-1945). In 1941 he called together the first National Nutrition Conference for Defense. At this conference doctors, nutritionists, agricultural scientists, social service workers, food manufacturers, and distributors discussed ways to raise the level of public health in the United States. They found that about 400,000 out of 1 million men were unfit for military service due to lack of proper nutrition. Because of this, the first Recommended Daily Allowances were created. The RDAs listed specific recommended intakes for calories and nine essential nutrients: protein, iron, calcium, vitamins A and D, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and vitamin C. The conference also addressed the need for public nutrition education leading to a new food guide being released. Roosevelt was very involved and a key motivator at this time in food politics and definitely is an important figure in American public health history.