Transcript Inventing Baby Food: Gerber and The Discourse of Infancy in the

INVENTING BABY FOOD:
GERBER AND THE DISCOURSE
OF INFANCY IN THE UNITED
STATES
By: Amy Bentley
We’ll Explore
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Origins of breast milk to formula to solid food
 Timeline
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of formula to food change
Development of “Expert Knowledge”
Early Marketing of the Gerber Products Company
100 Years of change from 19th century
to mid 20th century
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Industrialization
Mass production
Advertising of food supply
Changing consumption patterns
Discover and promotion of vitamins
Evolving notions of body and health
Science as ultimate authority
Medication of childbirth and infancy
Yielding the medical establishments increased
prominence and power
Origin: Biology
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At age 4 months an infants gastrointestinal system
can’t process anything but breast milk or the
equivalent
Earlier than this can cause stress on the kidney
function
Breast milk is considered the best option for infant
ingestion because of the nutrients that assist in
development
Early
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19
Century
Pre-industrial west: 95% of children were breast fed by
mothers or wet-nurses
Other 5% by dry-nursing or “pap/panada” mixture of boiled
flour, water or animal milk
Mid 19th Century
Invention of advice manuals, infants still on breast milk mainly
but a new integration of modified cows milk is introduced
Grandmother’s aphorism: “only milk until the eruption of molars
(12-16 months)
Forbidden Fruit
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Fruit/vegetables are discouraged from eating
because of a folk tale idea that eating fruit made
people, and children, feverish, and sick with severe
diarrhea
The fruit/vegetables are removed completely from
infant ingestion until 2-3 yrs of age
While mixtures known as “liquids” are emphasized:
gruel mixtures, beef broth, liquids.
Meats and cereals suggested during 1st year
Late 19th Century: Chemical Period
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New dependency on science as authoritative figure
about health and human life cycle
Doctors birthing children in hospital vs. homes
Doctors increased power in formulas for infants:
“Parent instincts and common sense take a backseat
to science”
Medicalization makes mom’s worried about their
ability to produce nutritious breast milk for their
child
Expert Advice
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Knowledge of vitamins
Fruits and vegetable suddenly prized, and pushed to be involved in
infant diet
Issue of wanting more fruit and vegetables in the child’s diet but
having to wait until 1 yr old
1928: Carlotta C. Greer, “Foods and Homemaking” says that
vitamins and vegetables are must have a prominent place in infancy
feeding. Suggests an earlier introduction of solid foods to the diet.
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1 tsp orange juice @ 3 weeks of age
Cereals @ 5-6 months
Vegetables @ 6 months
Toast @ 7 months
Egg Yolk @ 1 year
General Trend of Development
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A general trend of introducing solid foods, and
weaning them off of a formula or milk was
becoming more and more pronounced toward the
end of the 19th century
In the Cornell study in 1933, feeding practice of
over 700 infants in upstate New York received an
average of a late introduction to solids
In a couple of decades this average was much
earlier
Gerber Makes its Move
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1920’s: changed opinions about vitamins, promotion
of fruit and canned goods, introduction to
advertising
WELCOME GERBER!!
Story of Gerber
So successful the Gerbers changed their old
production line of vegetables to just baby food and
renamed it from Fremont Canning Company to
Gerber Products Company
Gerber Perfects its Method
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First produces pureed foods
(strained)
Then line of cereals
Later, chopped produce and
dinner combinations for older
toddlers
In 1930: produced 842,000 cans
of baby food
In 1931: 1,311,500 cans
In 1932: 2,259,818 cans
Only one competitor during this
time frame: Clapps
1935 Gerber competes with
Beech-Nut, Heinz, Libby’s but
stays on top
Why Gerber did so Well
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Canned foods were becoming cheaper, and parents
could afford to buy them
Doctors and health officials were becoming more
involved in children healthcare and advertising
Working moms found processed food to be easier to
manage
Other inventions were being created to help women
in the home: washing machines, refrigerators, diapers
ect.
Advertising: Gerber Pushes Solids
Earlier
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1950’s women are bypassing nursing
Age of artificial foods and propriety food items
Same period as when Gerber comes out with strained
vegetable/fruit
Before 1950’s 7 months was the age in which infants
should be introduced to vegetables/fruits, within next
10 yrs reduced to 4-6 months, by 1950 doctors were
recommending 4-6 weeks
Gerber is now a substitute for breast milk
Advertising: Gerber Pushes Solids
Earlier
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Through advertising, Gerber
pushes Americans to trust
Gerber’s canning system
As Americans get used to
advertising, Gerber introduces
mass production, advertising of
goods, memorable packaging
and branding—this becomes the
essential part of the package
Even the Gerber baby becomes
an iconic symbol for how young a
child should be to start eating
solid foods
Gerber Gets On Board with Dieticians
and Mothers
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Late 1920s-1930s Gerber starts advertising in the Journal of
the American Dietetics Associate (ADA)
Slogans
1929: Gerber advertises to directly to women, allows Doctors
to order products free of charge, and advertises to men about
not having a wife who looks “worn and haggard” from having
to be a slave to the kitchen or child
Conclusion
Gerber came at the right time and place
Doctors or mothers at fault?
“More must be better”