Article

2012-06-18 Science & Technology

How the mid-Victorians flourished - a lesson for (post, we hope) Obamacare policy

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by 2012-06-18 14:41|| || Front Page|| [4 views ] Top

#1 Coincidentally, I came across this article on a growing food business that seeks to bring fresh vegs to the city.

Posted by lotp 2012-06-18 15:11|| 2012-06-18 15:11|| Front Page Top

#2 Processed foods didn't exist back then. People have a ton more choice now. Junk food is aimed squarely at the local palate, and scientists are hired to create it.

Posted by gromky 2012-06-18 16:59|| 2012-06-18 16:59|| Front Page Top

#3 Other factors, too. Very locally produced vegs and fruits using organic fertilizers => more micronutrients in the crop, so that not only did they eat more of these good foods, the foods were better for them than our mass-farmed equivalents grown on highly-worked soil & bred to hold up to long distance travel. Also very little butter fats in the diet, much less alcohol and very little tobacco use. Way less sugar and those mostly not the refined cane sugar type. Whole grains.

The stats on changes in strength and stature within one - two subsequent generations are eye-opening.

Posted by lotp 2012-06-18 17:20|| 2012-06-18 17:20|| Front Page Top

#4 The tract homes that mushroomed outside of major cities grew lawns instead of vegetable gardens because 1. The topsoil had been stripped away by the builders and there wasn't much left; 2 Lawns were a sort of status symbol: "I don't have to devote my property to growing my own food".

Fast forward a few generations. Now, for the first time in my stodgy domestic life, I'm a trendsetter. Two years ago we took out a tree in the front yard and dug up the lawn for vegetable beds. Now a few neighbors have their tomatoes in the front yard too, and the Sunday paper had an article about urban gardens in Madison.

Posted by mom 2012-06-18 18:07|| 2012-06-18 18:07|| Front Page Top

#5 Have any problems with thieves?
It's in the FRONT yard and any passer-by could grab whatever's ripe, prove it.

Posted by Redneck Jim 2012-06-18 21:04|| 2012-06-18 21:04|| Front Page Top

#6 The paper says that many urban families had a couple hens, too, yielding a dozen or more eggs a week. Those birds ate a lot of insects and food scraps, not just grain, so they would have had more Omega 3s etc. than the industrial, grain fed egg factories produce.

Posted by lotp 2012-06-18 21:36|| 2012-06-18 21:36|| Front Page Top

#7 Despite this, and contrary to historical tradition, we argue in this paper, using a range of historical evidence, which Britain and its world-dominating empire were supported by a workforce, an army and a navy comprised of individuals who were healthier, fitter and stronger than we are today.

Yep, if you lived beyond childhood. They sort of skip the 'thinning out' that occurs with 19th Century infant mortality rates. It makes great statistics when the weak are gone by adulthood. Smack of Social Darwinism. Didn't we just have an issue with people who cherry pick data?

Posted by Procopius2k 2012-06-18 21:42|| 2012-06-18 21:42|| Front Page Top

23:54 JosephMendiola
23:25 JosephMendiola
23:24 JosephMendiola
23:17 JosephMendiola
23:05 Rambler in Virginia
21:59 M. Murcek
21:42 Procopius2k
21:36 lotp
21:18 lotp
21:11 newc
21:05 Frank G
21:04 Redneck Jim
21:03 Nimble Spemble
21:01 newc
20:57 Silentbrick - Schlumberger Squishy Mud Division
20:42 Frank G
20:36 JosephMendiola
20:35 JosephMendiola
20:31 JosephMendiola
20:26 JosephMendiola
20:21 Mullah Richard
20:19 JosephMendiola
20:19 Mullah Richard
20:12 Mullah Richard