Commentary: The context and outcome of nutrition campaigning in 1934

D, Smith

doi:10.1093/ije/dyg164

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Although the ‘politically conservative [Orr] argued for cheap food policies that would both relieve the economic problems of agriculture and alleviate the nutritional problems of the poor’ (Smith, : 502), his belief ‘that the international priority for health in the post‐war period should be universal access to staple foods priced within the reach of all people’ (Ruxin, : 49) was too radical for those to whom food was a commodity that could be used for political leverage. After Orr resigned ‘with a feeling of grave disappointment over the rejection of his idea for a World Food Board’ (Phillips, : 36), and the leadership of the FAO ‘passed to those less nutritionally‐inclined and less idealistically inspired’ (Ruxin, : 58), nutrition moved from the domain of public health and social medicine to the world of agriculture and commerce, confirming the enduring marriage between capital and science that had been visualized during the inter‐war years.…”

Section: Framing the Problem: Undernutrition Or Malnutritionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutritionalizing Food: A Framework for Capital Accumulation

Sathyamala¹

2016

Development and Change

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The food and agricultural industry has long had influence in policy making. However, the active promotion of the private sector as the most viable option for resolving problems of nutrition is a more recent phenomenon. This contribution uses two case studies -the construction of a pure protein deficiency disease in the 1960s and the alleged obesity epidemic in present-day India -to illustrate how scientific discourses in nutrition are shaped by the needs of capital and how capital determines scientific truths. Under the guise of partnering with the private sector, the boundaries of science and commerce have become blurred and potential conflicts of interest are no longer clearly demarcated. The entry of the pharmaceutical and food industries into functional foods and supplements has created a new epistemic authority for truth claims whose strength lies in the ability to convince through propaganda with little pretence of a scientific base. Thus, the very industry that has been held responsible for several problems in nutrition is now positioning itself as the deliverer of their solution. The reformulation of food needs as nutritional norms has facilitated the emergence of business as a pivotal player with further opportunities for capital accumulation.

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Section: Framing the Problem: Undernutrition Or Malnutritionmentioning

confidence: 99%