BECOMING SHOPPERS: NC Food Consumption and Production

Lessons Learned From War

During WWII, state and federal governments worked closely with farmers to increase the productivity of the food industry and pump out as much food as possible—and they got pretty good at it. Both the government and industry leaders learned a great deal about how corporations and government could work together to increase food production and get more food to more people in less time. Thus, after the war, state and federal governments had a renewed mission to “modernize” the national food industry. NC State was the center of food research in North Carolina, and its industrial researchers imagined a future of food production in which efficiency and automation ruled:

New food production techniques resulted in experiments with new "foods of the future," too. Flaked food experienced a brief but excited pitch during the 1960s:

What About The Family Farm?

The modernization of farming was very exciting to many, but although it meant good things for large corporate farms, it also meant bad things for small family farms. Large farms had the extra funds to invest in new farming implements, more expensive seeds, and better chemicals and fertilizers. They could weather downturns in the economy better because of their size, and they could sell in bulk. The days of the small commercial family farm were ending, and many small commercial farmers were either forced from their land or forced into subsistence farming.