Highways, Hamburgers, and History: Food in the Age of American Upheaval

September is National Food Safety Education Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness about safe practices that prevent foodborne illness. But the story of food safety during the Cold War is connected not only to the movement of population to post-WWI Suburbia, but also to the intersection of the food industry and the Civil Rights movement.

In this dynamic lecture filled with images and awesome videos, food policy professor and author Dr. Darin Detwiler explains how multiple economic, political, and social factors throughout the 20^th century impacted consumers’ relationship with food and nutrition. 

Topics discussed include food trucks, food carts, diners, fast food, drive-thru restaurants, advertising, marketing images, mascots, roadside icons, matchbooks, and colors, food availability, war-time shortages, autos, interstate highways, suburbs, television, the Space Race, grocery stores, and even the intersection of the food industry and the Civil Rights movement (racism, protests, unions, sit-ins, and more.)

Watch now: “COLD WAR ERA 2: Fast Cars and Fast Food” [14:21]

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