Inventing Baby Food: Taste, Health, and the Industrialization of the American Diet

252 Pages·2014·2.776 MB·English

by  Amy Bentley

Inventing Baby Food
taste, health, and the industrialization
of the american diet
Amy Bentley
university of california press
The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous support
of the Ahmanson Foundation Humanities Endowment Fund
of the University of California Press Foundation.
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Inventing Baby Food
california studies in food and culture
Darra Goldstein, Editor
Inventing Baby Food
taste, health, and the industrialization
of the american diet
Amy Bentley
university of california press
University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university
presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing
scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its
activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic
contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit
www.ucpress.edu.
University of California Press
Oakland, California
© 2014 by Amy Bentley
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bentley, Amy, 1962–
Inventing baby food : taste, health, and the industrialization of the
American diet / Amy Bentley.
pages cm.—(California studies in food and culture; 51)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-520-27737-3 (cloth : alk. paper)
isbn 978-0-520-28345-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)
isbn 978-0-520-95914-9 (e-book)
1. Infants—Nutrition—United States—History. I. Title.
rj216.b375 2014
618.92—dc23 2014006537
Manufactured in the United States of America
23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
In keeping with a commitment to support environmentally responsible and
sustainable printing practices, UC Press has printed this book on Natures
Natural, a fi ber that contains 30% post-consumer waste and meets the minimum
requirements of ansi/niso z39.48–1992 (r 1997) (Permanence of Paper).
For Joey, Annabelle, and Ruby
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contents
List of Illustrations ix
Introduction 1
1 Industrial Food, Industrial Baby Food:
•
Th e 1890s to the 1930s 15
2 Shift ing Child-Rearing Philosophies and Early Solids:
•
Th e Golden Age of Baby Food at Midcentury 43
3 Industrialization, Taste, and Th eir Discontents:
•
Th e 1960s to the 1970s 71
4 Natural Food, Natural Motherhood, and the Turn
•
toward Homemade: Th e 1970s to the 1990s 104
5 Reinventing Baby Food in the Twenty-First Century 133
•
Acknowledgments 165
Notes 169
Bibliography 197
Index 223