COURSE: History of Science/Medical History 509: The Development of Public Health in America
MEDIUM: Graphic Essay, Poetic Anthology
DESCRIPTION:
Inspired by pure food crusader Dr. Harvey Wiley’s poem, “I Wonder What’s In It” (1899), my submission is an anthology of poems with accompanying political cartoons exploring the circumstances and historical actors that produced the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act and Meat Inspection Act. My poems draw across a vast array of primary sources to specifically consider the role of journalists, public opinion, scientists, industry, and government in the birth of pure food legislation, providing insight into how public health policy emerges and the factors influencing the implementation and effectiveness of public health policy in society.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT:
I am passionate about educating myself and others on America’s food production systems and the dangers of today’s unregulated food manufacturing practices. Familiar with the works of leading figures in American food systems, I seek to integrate my knowledge of food systems, nutrition, and metabolism in the real world. I devote my free time to conducting visits to local farms and co-ops, shopping at farmers markets, and serving as a co-director of Slow Food UW’s nutrition education outreach programs into South Madison schools. Next year, I will begin pursuing my PhD in Metabolic Biology at UC-Berkeley, researching diet-driven disease while working with the Berkeley Food Institute towards cultivating more sustainable, equitable food practices. Given I aspire to be a pure food crusader, a modern Dr. Harvey Wiley, it was fitting that Wiley’s poem, “I Wonder What’s In It” (1899), inspired me to write my own anthology. My project illustrates that many issues in America’s 1906 food supply mirror those in our food systems of the 21st century. Recognizing how the modern food movement has expanded from targeting food adulteration to countering commodity crops, concentrated animal feeding operations, ultra-processed foods, food additives, increasing rates of metabolic disease, and animal and worker welfare amongst other issues, my aim for this project was to show the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was only the foundation of our fight for pure food. I hope my work inspires readers to pause and think about the food on their plate before taking a bite.