You may think the desire for cleaner, safer foods is something new. Well, have I got a story for you!
The fight for safe, clean, un-adulterated foods began in the 1800’s. Foods presented to the public were low quality and in many instances, contained impurities which included various additives and preservatives.
Dr Harvey Washington Wiley MD was a chemist and physician, working as chief chemist in 1883, at what’s now known as the US Department of Agriculture.
Recognizing that the market was flooded with poor quality and harmful products with no government control, he worked hard to get a pure food bill into law. He repeatedly met with resistance by lobbies with heavy funding, which successfully defeated his attempts through the 1880’s and 1890’s.
In 1902 he organized what was called the poison squad. This was a group of healthy young volunteers to identity the effects of chemicals and adulterated foods on themselves. These were people fully committed to a cause for sure.
Finally, on June 30, 1906, President Roosevelt signed into law the Hepburn act, also known as pure food and drug act. With this bill, a first violation would incur a $200 fine. Subsequent violations were fined $300 and up to a year imprisonment. This may not seem like much, but a dollar went a lot further back then.
The establishment of the pure food and drug act of 1906 established the creation of the Food and Drug Administration, placing Dr Wiley as the first head of this organization, and revolutionizing the control of food quality in America. Dr Wiley fought hard to maintain healthy foods for our nation, but by 1912, he was replaced. (This makes me question if the pressures of the food and chemical industries and if their vast wealth managed to triumph over the conscience of our country and those supposedly protecting us).
From here Dr Wiley was sought out by Better Homes and Gardens, to lead the bureau of foods, sanitation, and health. Better Homes and Gardens began their publication in 1885 to fight for clean foods and a healthy environment. They led the fight for tougher government inspection of foods. When products were identified as clean and pure, Good Housekeeping would give that product the “Good housekeeping seal of approval” Today, these checks and balances have been pretty much watered down.
Dr Wiley invested 50 years of his life into the protection of our environment and the health of our nation. Although the pure food bill of 1906 was enacted, today, finding foods that are indeed pure and void of chemicals and preservatives is getting more and more difficult.
The sacrifices made by Dr Wiley and the poison squad to protect humanity has pretty much gone under appreciated. The health care crisis of our generation is largely due to toxic elements which are in our food and water supply. To enforce the pure food bill today would remove most food from the shelves in our stores.
Today there are more and more people, concerned enough to demand clean and healthy foods. This has given rise to entire food outlets which maintain organic, pesticide free, non-GMO foods. Unfortunately for some of us, these outlets are centered in some of the denser populations which can provide enough business to keep the doors open. We’ve entered into a paradigm shift, where the public has lost faith in the protective branch of government responsible for insuring healthy foods to the consumer.
The best and safest practice we can be involved in is raising our own healthy crops and establishing connections with those who are raising healthy animals. Learn good canning techniques and better food preparation. Be your own chemical police.
We may not be able to depend on government agencies to protect our health, so it should be up to each of us to take responsibility for our family’s health and well being.
The fight for safe, clean, un-adulterated foods began in the 1800’s. Foods presented to the public were low quality and in many instances, contained impurities which included various additives and preservatives.
Dr Harvey Washington Wiley MD was a chemist and physician, working as chief chemist in 1883, at what’s now known as the US Department of Agriculture.
Recognizing that the market was flooded with poor quality and harmful products with no government control, he worked hard to get a pure food bill into law. He repeatedly met with resistance by lobbies with heavy funding, which successfully defeated his attempts through the 1880’s and 1890’s.
In 1902 he organized what was called the poison squad. This was a group of healthy young volunteers to identity the effects of chemicals and adulterated foods on themselves. These were people fully committed to a cause for sure.
Finally, on June 30, 1906, President Roosevelt signed into law the Hepburn act, also known as pure food and drug act. With this bill, a first violation would incur a $200 fine. Subsequent violations were fined $300 and up to a year imprisonment. This may not seem like much, but a dollar went a lot further back then.
The establishment of the pure food and drug act of 1906 established the creation of the Food and Drug Administration, placing Dr Wiley as the first head of this organization, and revolutionizing the control of food quality in America. Dr Wiley fought hard to maintain healthy foods for our nation, but by 1912, he was replaced. (This makes me question if the pressures of the food and chemical industries and if their vast wealth managed to triumph over the conscience of our country and those supposedly protecting us).
From here Dr Wiley was sought out by Better Homes and Gardens, to lead the bureau of foods, sanitation, and health. Better Homes and Gardens began their publication in 1885 to fight for clean foods and a healthy environment. They led the fight for tougher government inspection of foods. When products were identified as clean and pure, Good Housekeeping would give that product the “Good housekeeping seal of approval” Today, these checks and balances have been pretty much watered down.
Dr Wiley invested 50 years of his life into the protection of our environment and the health of our nation. Although the pure food bill of 1906 was enacted, today, finding foods that are indeed pure and void of chemicals and preservatives is getting more and more difficult.
The sacrifices made by Dr Wiley and the poison squad to protect humanity has pretty much gone under appreciated. The health care crisis of our generation is largely due to toxic elements which are in our food and water supply. To enforce the pure food bill today would remove most food from the shelves in our stores.
Today there are more and more people, concerned enough to demand clean and healthy foods. This has given rise to entire food outlets which maintain organic, pesticide free, non-GMO foods. Unfortunately for some of us, these outlets are centered in some of the denser populations which can provide enough business to keep the doors open. We’ve entered into a paradigm shift, where the public has lost faith in the protective branch of government responsible for insuring healthy foods to the consumer.
The best and safest practice we can be involved in is raising our own healthy crops and establishing connections with those who are raising healthy animals. Learn good canning techniques and better food preparation. Be your own chemical police.
We may not be able to depend on government agencies to protect our health, so it should be up to each of us to take responsibility for our family’s health and well being.
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