This study discusses the developing role of nutrition as a biopolitical object during the First World War. As research into food led to the discovery of vitamins in 1912, the world would shortly erupt into global warfare thereafter in 1914. Modern, global warfare tested the limits of food production. American and British authorities worked towards new methods for combating malnutrition and ensuring quality food could be allotted to civilians and soldiers alike. Research into vitamins and nutrition in general continued during the war, and this new food model quickly became vital for American and British civilians and soldiers alike- who came to increasingly rely upon vegetables and substitutes for wheat, in the form of alternative grains, and meat in the form of beans. Milk continued to be held in highest regard by doctors and governments -owing to its high nutritional content, including the two vitamins discovered in 1912. At the same time, soldiers had their rations bolstered by fresher produce on the Western Front, while in the Middle East, germinated peas proved to be effective at warding off scurvy and beriberi- even where supply lines were at their longest. These efforts, pushed by doctors and governments working in collaboration, resulted in a profound shift in the way governments treated the realm of food, in all its aspects, but also in matters of the health of their populations. This in turn altered how conscious the average person was of what they ate-owing to the greater understanding of quality food and healthy eating during, and directly after the First World War.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-528807 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Duerden, Lucia |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för idéhistoria |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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