Malnutrition In America

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Pages: 6

In 1783, the Americans had won the Revolutionary War against Great Britain. Subsequently, many people began to move to the United States of America from various countries. Throughout the 1800s many different social classes and groups of people formed. These groups were diverse in many ways; for instance, men and women became two distinct groups, especially when it came to their diet and eating habits. Also, between the new immigrants and American citizens there was an immense dietary gap. Lastly, there was, and still is, a growing dietary gap and difference in food quality between the rich and the poor. Due to these gaps, malnutrition had become more prominent in poorer environments. There was an article published by Heather Griggs, entitled,“By …show more content…
Women were still subservient and often had the task of preparing meals for the family. Despite this, their meals usually varied from that of the male counterparts. Feeding America, by Robert Roberts, was drafted in 1827, and provides cookbook that was written about the average meals a family would have. Meals consumed by males frequently consisted of various proteins, starches, and vegetables. In 1804, two famous pioneers, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark set out to explore the rest of America, they left behind a list of their meal plan that explained what they would consume on their voyage. On their travels, they had brought an assortment of food, such as pork, beans, soup, flour, as well as corn. These meals were similar to those of what other men in the New York area ate, and were designed to keep them fuller longer and prevent starvation. However, the women’s meals consisted of less protein, mainly because people felt that women did not do enough physical labor for expensive meat. In addition, during the 19th century, women did not have jobs that would pay nearly as much to their male counterparts, meaning that they were less likely to afford meat as well as other higher quality foods. Most, if any, women that went to college graduated with a home economics degree, a program that many colleges did not have until 1841. Sadly, these differences lasted for decades because women’s roles had stayed relatively the same in society. On top of the few types of jobs available for women, society felt that the “ideal woman” was one who followed a strict diet in order to stay