The Science and Culture of Nutrition, 1840-1940 (review)

This is a well-written and well-referenced collection of twelve articles, all by different authors. Each is concerned with the interactions between scientists interested in nutrition and the society in which they worked, in the period prior to 1940. The first article, by Harmke Kamminga, deals with the work of Jacob Moleschott, a Dutch physician and socialist who studied in Germany. He was one of the first to set out dietary standards for people of different ages and occupations, but he scandalized society in the 1850s with his materialist writings. He believed that the development of the poor was held back by their low-protein “potato” diets. One of his books took the form of an attack on Justus Liebig, who is the subject of the next article. Mark Finlay describes the famous chemist’s promotion of the idea that an extract of meat would form a valuable dietary supplement, and his financial involvement in the development of a commercial product from cheap South American meat. Such a product is now thought to be of little nutritional value, but at the time people were persuaded that it was an effective substitute for meat, and was particularly suitable for building up the strength of invalids.

Several further articles discuss debates as to whether the poor in Western Europe simply could not afford a healthy diet, or whether it was within their reach if only they would make better choices. Part of the debate centered on the question of how to set realistic standards for the daily requirement for protein, vitamins, and so forth: some medical organizations pressed for higher “optimal” standards, while governments were generally reluctant to provide the unemployed with support that was adequate for more than a bare survival diet. Mikulás Teich discusses the special difficulties faced by both Britain and Germany in trying to feed their populations during World War I when imports were restricted; in each country scientific advice was proffered, but not regarded as the last word. Margaret Barnett reviews some of the dietetic fads of the period, and Sally Horrocks describes commercial exploitations of the public’s interest in vitamins. A variety of other articles supplement those already mentioned, and make this an important and informative collection for anyone interested in the interaction of science and society in this period, and in the ways in which states began to intervene on behalf of the disadvantaged after the age of laissez-faire.