BECOMING SHOPPERS: NC Food Consumption and Production
Shoppers of the Future
"Supermarket, symbol of the high standard of living in this country today"
NC State and the Extension Service were not only excited about the prospect of developing modern farms, they were also ready to start training modern shoppers. As the food industry changed, so too would the responsibilities of the woman of the house (the Extension Service continued to recognize only women as food shoppers, never men). Still responsible for preparing meals, she would now have to be a wise shopper instead of a smart gardener and canner. This was no easy task, as a vast array of foods would be available at the supermarket, shipped in from around the world. Some were high quality, some low quality, some expensive, some cheap, but nearly all came with fancy packaging and appealing advertisements. It was the food shopper's responsibility to shift through the bewildering array of options to plan a nutritious family diet that remained within the family budget. Many more families now relied completely on supermarkets to get food, and the Extension Service saw its responsibility as educating these shoppers in the ways of food safety, family budgeting, and kitchen improvement.
"Calling Consumers" Week, 1966
"With the major shift in the last century in the area of goods and services, the change basically has been from a producing to a consuming society. The North Carolina Agricultural Extension Service can provide and is providing Tar Heel families with unbiased, reliable Consumer Information so they can get maximum satisfaction for money spent."
The Extension Service sought to position itself as the reliable source of consumer information. Before 1965, the Extension Service had been segregated. The much larger white branch was based at NC State and the satellite African American branch operated out of North Carolina A & T, the historically black campus in Greensboro. Around the same time that the two halves merged, the Extension Service started a new Home Economics program that combined food education with family values. Citing the belief that "many North Carolina Families do not understand the importance of developing purposeful goals and values," agents set out to show families "appropriate family food habits" and teach them the role food plays "in a family's value system." The Extension Service sought to change North Carolinians' family dynamics by changing eating habits at the dinner table and spending habits at the store, a new emphasis that many families likely did not welcome.
Let's Go to a Supermarket, 1958
Nationwide, the supermarket was recognized as a symbol of the modern age. Children were educated in how to navigate its aisles and choose amongst foods.
A Mark of Wholesome Meat, 1964
This video educated food shoppers about how the meat processing industry worked, how foods were inspected by the USDA, and how shoppers could recognize the inspectors' stamp of approval.
Announcement of Calling Consumers Week in North Carolina, 1966
The "Calling Consumers" Week was an educational event on television, in newspapers, and at community centers that sought to remind food shoppers statewide that the Extension Service was a reliable source of consumer information.
Estimated Annual Cost of Food (Per Capita), 1963
The dollar was worth much more in 1963, when the total cost to feed a teenage boy on a moderate income was just $592.80.
Choose to Eat Well: Low, Moderate, and Liberal Cost Food Plans, 1964
Have you ever heard of the poverty line? The first poverty line was set in the mid-1960s. It was based on estimates of what a budgeting family spends on food. The poverty line was set to three times the annual food budget of a low-spending family. This new definition of poverty linked food, spending, and income level together.