Robert Forster (1) (1926–)

The first selection is "The Great Hunger: Ireland, 1845-1849" by Cecil Woodham-Smith. Ten pages on the science of Phytophthora infestans, aka the potato blight that caused particular devastation in Ireland in 1845-6, followed by eight pages of anecdotes about starving people and poor relief soup that was basically water. The editors describe this essay as "a classic of its kind," but I felt it was rushed and scattered. I wish it had either been longer or more focused.

The second is "Peasant Diet in Eighteenth-Century Gévaudan" by RJ Bernard. Using the food pensions promised to parents (generally aged 40-60) or disabled relatives in wills or marriage contracts, Bernard hoped to determine the diet and probable impact of their nutrition on people living in a single town between 1754-1788. These food pensions were generally made up of rye, barley, cabbage, turnips and garden herbs, butter, and cheese. There are also occasional mentions of wheat, chestnuts, or salt lard. (There are no references to ham, sausage, or other pork products, probably because pigs of the time were poorly nourished and yielded little meat compared to modern times. Storing pork products required salt, but getting sufficient quantities for a proper salting was difficult under the gabelle, or salt tax.) So basically, peasants were mostly eating bread, either with a little cheese, pig lard or meat, or rubbed with an onion, or soaked in a soup. The bread was kneaded at the farm and baked in the village's communal oven, creating large round black crusted loaves. The grains were very roughly ground, so that most of the bran was left in the flour, which made for a heavy but digestible and nutritious loaf. Most of the pensions provided for less calories than needed for moderate work, and several provided less than needed to sustain life. Between 80-100% of the protein provided by these food pensions came from the bread; this shortage of animal proteins and fats limited growth and health. The excess of phosphorus and huge lack of calcium in the diet probably lead to rickets, scoliosis, frequent cases of bow legs, and early decay of teeth. Overall, this chronic malnutrition passed down for generations undoubtedly lead to higher mortality and morbidity.

Roland Barthes wrote "Toward a Psychosociology of Contemporary Food Consumption." Contains such nonsensical sections as 'I remember an American hit song: Sugar Time. Sugar is a time, a category of the world. I do not wish to deal here with the problem of sugar "metaphors" or paradoxes, such as the "sweet" rock singers or the sweet milk beverages of certain "toughs."' There are nuggets of interesting thoughts here, but Barthes rushes quickly from one point to the next, never sufficiently supporting or explaining any.

HJ Teuteberg wrote "The General Relationship between Diet and Industrialization," the best essay of the collection. Using the few contemporaneous studies and surveys done during the nineteenth century, Teuteberg seeks to trace the changes in diet, nutrition, and thinking about food that occurred as Germany embraced industry.… (mere)