Counterculture—From Hippies to Foodies .....................................

Lecture 34

I

n this lecture, you will learn about the various individuals and movements
in the latter half of the 20th century that challenged the hegemony of the
modern industrial food system from a wide variety of angles, including
gastronomic, ethical, and environmental. You will also learn about farmers’
markets, sustainable agriculture, rescuing traditional foods and production
methods, and what is generally known as health food. The focus will be on
the 1960s and 1970s and the odd and ironic way these movements actually
became part of the industrial food system—when they became a marketing
angle for new products.

The Second Health-Food Movement
 Much like the health-food movement of the early 19th century,
there was a second health-food movement in the 1960s and 1970s,
except this one did not originate among wealthy people visiting
fashionable spas and sanatoriums, but was really one facet of a
wider counterculture rebellion and went hand in hand with hippies,
free love, psychedelic music, and antiwar protests. They were
basically saying that everything about the way most Americans live
is wrong—including and especially their food—and it often had a
political angle as well.

 During this time, many people believed that what most Americans

ate was unhealthy; that farming practices polluted the Earth;

and that technologically enhanced, mass-produced food was

aesthetically bankrupt. They looked to simpler foods, often ones

that didn’t exploit animals, and also sought to eat local foods

grown sustainably, in season, and prepared by human hands and

shared—sometimes communally. They also believed in the value of

spending time preparing food for other people.

 The environmental concern specifi cally went mainstream in 1962

with the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, which made