Dietary Intake

Abstract

Nutritional intake data collected more than 100 years ago document seasonal hunger in the United States. The studies discussed here include winter hunger in Tuskegee, Alabama, and Yazoo Delta sharecroppers, hunger in the spring months in Maryville, Tennessee, and hunger during the winter months in the poorest areas of Chicago and New York City. Household dietaries collected from members of the professional class in various Midwestern communities provide records from families in better circumstances for comparison. Farm households responded to seasonal shortages by decreasing the number of meals and the total food intake. Families also borrowed against future crops. Urban households, forced to decreased use of animal fats on account of rising winter prices, increased consumption of low cost carbohydrates. Professionals changed their diet mostly in the selection of vegetables.