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From the Academy Centennial Series| Volume 115, ISSUE 2, P286-302, February 2015

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What We Ate: Repasts of the Academy’s Past

Published:January 27, 2015DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2014.11.019
What We Ate: Repasts of the Academy’s Past
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      The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’
      Until 2012, the Academy was called the American Dietetic Association. Throughout this article, it will be called the Academy.
      ∗Until 2012, the Academy was called the American Dietetic Association. Throughout this article, it will be called the Academy.
      upcoming centennial in 2017 heralds 100 years of annual conventions and countless other meetings since the very first assemblage in Cleveland, OH, in October 1917.
      • Cassell J.A.
      Carry the Flame: The History of the American Dietetic Association.
      American Dietetic Association, Chicago, IL1990
      Through the symposia, educational sessions, and workshops presented at these meetings, one might be able to trace the story of the evolution of food, nutrition knowledge, and dietetics. However, a smaller, seldom-investigated component of these meetings—the food that was served at these meetings—can be in itself rich with story.
      These meetings were once a celebration of the food, as important and as much as a celebration of the reason the meal was being served. The early annual meetings (now called the Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo, or FNCE) were relatively intimate events—while the 1917 meeting saw the convergence of close to 100 food and nutrition practitioners, the number of attendees hadn’t broken into the thousands until 1932.
      • Cassell J.A.
      Carry the Flame: The History of the American Dietetic Association.
      American Dietetic Association, Chicago, IL1990
      The annual Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo today has a typical attendance of close to 10,000 food and nutrition pratitioners.

      Frequently asked questions for the media. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics website. http://www.eatright.org/FNCE/content.aspx?id=6442469222. Accessed November 10, 2014.

      †The annual Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo today has a typical attendance of close to 10,000 food and nutrition pratitioners.

      Frequently asked questions for the media. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics website. http://www.eatright.org/FNCE/content.aspx?id=6442469222. Accessed November 10, 2014.

      Thus, menus full of creative and complicated dishes were easier to produce at earlier conventions.
      Consider also that travel today is far easier than it once was. Air travel did not become affordable to the masses until Congress deregulated the industry in 1978,

      Hetter K. The golden days of air travel: How glorious were they? May 26, 2012. CNN website. http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/25/travel/nostalgia-travel/. Accessed November 10, 2014.

      and often times practitioners were visiting a state or region for the very first time,
      For example, for many members, the 1939 annual meeting in Los Angeles represented their first-ever in-person glimpse of California.
      • Cassell J.A.
      Carry the Flame: The History of the American Dietetic Association.
      American Dietetic Association, Chicago, IL1990
      ‡For example, for many members, the 1939 annual meeting in Los Angeles represented their first-ever in-person glimpse of California.
      • Cassell J.A.
      Carry the Flame: The History of the American Dietetic Association.
      American Dietetic Association, Chicago, IL1990
      so there was likelihood that attendees at these meetings were getting their first taste of the food of the region that housed the meeting venue. For that reason, these menus often commemorated the foods of the region, or, as was the case during World War II, a specific event. The Allies Dinner at the 1942 Annual Meeting in Detroit, MI, for example, boasted a spread of foods to represent the Allied Nations: Russian borscht, roast prime rib of beef with Yorkshire pudding, Roseapple with horseradish crème, Chinese vegetables, South American green salad, French rolls, Canadian maple bombe, Mexican wafer, and—representing the United States—red, white, and blue fruit supreme.
      • Cassell J.A.
      Carry the Flame: The History of the American Dietetic Association.
      American Dietetic Association, Chicago, IL1990
      The programs of these conventions were also much shorter—simultaneous major symposia were not part of annual meeting programming until 1940
      • Cassell J.A.
      Carry the Flame: The History of the American Dietetic Association.
      American Dietetic Association, Chicago, IL1990
      —lending more time and budget to create fanciful meals with menus that were elaborate both in concept and print. Occasionally printed as detailed booklets, these menus sometimes had artistic covers and included a narrative about the cooking style of the region or musings on the state of dietetics.
      In the years since, greater ease of air travel, food safety, and cost-containment concerns have led to a greater standardization for foodservice-catered banquets and a more universal system for food preparation and preservation. Thus, to take a peek at this collection of menus is not just to see what was served, but to consider the stories to be found in these bygone bills of fare.
      Figure thumbnail fx15
      The 2,000-guest banquet for the Fifth International Congress of Dietetics in Washington, DC, in 1969. The International Congress was held in tandem with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics' Annual Meeting, with registrants from the United States and 41 countries, representing 27 dietetic associations.
      Figure thumbnail fx1
      A page from the menu booklet of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ 1936 Annual Meeting in Boston, MA, notes the evolving perception of dietitians as being concerned with palatability. Cookbooks of the era did indeed promote taste consideration. The 11th edition of The New Cookery, co-authored by Lenna Frances Cooper, one of the Academy’s founding members and President from 1936-1937, notes, “This taboo on health grounds of a large portion of the resources relied upon by the housewife for producing palate-stimulating dishes, has necessitated the creation of new methods for producing agreeable gustatory effects, and making dishes tasty and attractive while at the same time not doing violence to the strictest canons of the biologic regime,”
      • Cooper L.F.
      • Hall M.A.
      The New Cookery.
      11th ed. Modern Medicine Publishing Co, Battle Creek, MI1929: 11
      while the 1930 My New Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book advised, “While it is of first importance to select well-balanced food, it is also important to assemble food into well-planned, well-cooked, and attractively served meals.”

      My New Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book. Food Timeline website. http://www.foodtimeline.org/1930health.pdf. Accessed December 23, 2014.

      Among the publicity for the flavor luncheon mentioned in this booklet page was a blurb in the November 18, 1932, edition of the New York newspaper Geneva Daily Times. It opened with the histrionic commentary that readers should not “shudder” that dietitians had a new campaign within their “propaganda” but concluded that “Nature was all wrong, and when she put flavors in foodstuffs, she put in the wrong ones. But scientists have been learning that nature really knew something, after all, and where you find a fine flavor, you are likely to find vitamins or mineral salts or something your system needs. When the dietitians go beyond that blessed discovery and undertake to do a little constructive flavoring themselves, more power to them!”

      Flavored food. Geneva Daily Times. November 18, 1932. Fulton History website. http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2011/Geneva%20NY%20Daily%20Times/Geneva%20NY%20Daily%20Times%201932%20Oct-Feb%201933%20Grayscale/Geneva%20NY%20Daily%20Times%201932%20Oct-Feb%201933%20Grayscale%20-%200313.pdf. Accessed November 6, 2014.

      Figure thumbnail fx2
      The cover artwork from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ 1937 Annual Meeting banquet menu in Richmond, VA. This drawing depicts US Chief Justice John Marshall at the open-air Publik Market below Shockoe Hill, which then had served Richmond for more than 150 years. However, supermarkets had already been introduced in the United States by 1937. The first US self-service grocery—where customers presented a shopping list to the proprietor, who gathered the items—opened in Memphis, TN, in 1916. Independent grocers had begun experimenting with consolidating small stores to offer fresh meat, produce, and dry good selections.

      A quick history of the supermarket. Groceteria website. http://www.groceteria.com/about/a-quick-history-of-the-supermarket/. Accessed October 20, 2014.

      What is commonly considered to be the first US supermarket—designed as a “large, departmentalized, high-volume, high-stock-turnover, low-markup store…for the automobile shopper”—opened in Queens, NY, in 1930.

      Sicilia DB. Supermarket sweep. Spring 1997. Audacity. Quoted in: Food Marketing Institute. Supermarket anniversary facts. FMI website. http://www.fmi.org/research-resources/fmi-research-resources/supermarket-anniversary-facts. Accessed October 20, 2014.

      Manufacture of wheeled, wire-basket grocery carts, on the other hand, had not begun until 1937, the same year of this banquet. The inventor, Sylvan Goldman of Oklahoma City, OK, was inspired to invent the cart after witnessing the struggle of his customers as they tried to walk the supermarket aisles with cumbersome metal baskets.

      History of the shopping cart. Real Cart website. http://www.realcart.com/history/#sthash.frJDuk01.dpuf. Accessed October 20, 2014.

      Figure thumbnail fx3
      The menu for the exhibitors’ banquet at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ 1936 Annual Meeting in Boston, MA, emphasized New England foods. These earlier conferences often focused on serving foods specific to the area where the meeting convened. Though certainly there was interest in specifically celebrating the region that graciously hosted the Academy, there perhaps was an underlying factor influencing the wish to expose dietitians from across the country to the region’s foods: The US food system did not transition from a regional to a national operation until after World War II, when refrigerated truck technology was greatly improved and transportation costs were substantially reduced, thereby making it easier to acquire all that was needed to create authentic regional dishes.

      Martinez S, Hand M, Da Pra M, et al. Local food systems: Concepts, Impacts, and Issues. Economic Research Report 97. May 2010. US Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service website. http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/122868/err97_1_.pdf. Accessed November 4, 2014.

      Before then, conceivably, this could have been attendees’ first tastes of these dishes.
      Figure thumbnail fx4
      Included in the menu booklet for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 1936 Annual Meeting in Boston, MA, were recipes for many of the dishes served, with quantities for both homemakers and dietitians. This Boston baked beans recipe reflects what was then a relatively recent change as to how this New England dish was cooked. Baked bean recipes used to call for a higher molasses content—which, because of local production in Boston, was adopted in place of Native Americans' preferred use of maple syrup.

      Hitchcock M. Iroquois Indians named Boston Bean Town. January 4, 2006. The (Auburn) Citizen. http://auburnpub.com/lifestyles/iroquois-indians-named-boston-bean-town/article_4744531f-3afa-555d-b628-a4f44039be7b.html. Accessed November 7, 2014.

      But a 1919 disaster, in which a 5-story molasses-containing metal tank exploded, sent 7.5 million liters of molasses into the streets at a speed of up to 34 miles per hour.

      Jabr F. The science of the great molasses flood. July 17, 2013. Scientific American website. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/molasses-flood-physics-science/. Accessed November 7, 2014.

      As the tank was never rebuilt after this tragedy, and the price of refined sugar meanwhile had dropped considerably, molasses was used far less frequently as a sweetener in baking and in Boston’s signature dishes, including baked beans.

      Jabr F. The science of the great molasses flood. July 17, 2013. Scientific American website. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/molasses-flood-physics-science/. Accessed November 7, 2014.

      , 

      Hackett A. Slow but sure is the Boston way. January 12, 2005. Union-Tribune San Diego website. http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050112/news_lz1f12slice.html. Accessed November 7, 2014.

      , 

      Molasses. Food Timeline website. http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodcandy.html#molasses. Accessed November 7, 2014.

      This approach to Boston baked beans was published in the Boston Cooking School Cookbook—authored by Fannie Farmer, who is considered among the early precursors to the dietetics profession—for the first time in 1936.
      • Cassell J.A.
      Carry the Flame: The History of the American Dietetic Association.
      American Dietetic Association, Chicago, IL1990
      , 

      Molasses. Food Timeline website. http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodcandy.html#molasses. Accessed November 7, 2014.

      Figure thumbnail fx5
      The menu for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics exhibitors banquet at the 1937 Annual Meeting in Richmond, VA, focused on traditional Southern fare and included an explanation of the foods to be served, including pot “likker.” Pot likker (sometimes written as one word) is the nutrient-rich leftover broth after cooking a pot of greens, such as kale or collard greens, which can then be transformed with additional ingredients as a sauce for plating or dunking.

      Aubrey A. Pot liquor: A Southern tip to save nutritious broth from greens. National Public Radio website. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/08/06/209543044/pot-liquor-a-southern-tip-to-save-nutritious-broth-from-greens. Accessed October 20, 2014.

      Pot likker may have gained a bit of notoriety in regions beyond the South only 2 years before this banquet, when the legendary Huey Long—the three-term populist senator and former governor from Louisiana known for delivering impassioned speeches and filibusters—delivered a 15½-hour filibuster, his longest ever, that began with reading sections of the US Constitution and ended with recipes for oysters and pot likkers.

      Senate history. June 12-13, 1935—Huey Long filibusters. US Senate website. https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Huey_Long_Filibusters.htm. Accessed October 20, 2014.

      It is fortunate that the writers of this Academy banquet menu used the spelling they did—in 1982 a New York Times article that referred to Long’s filibuster spelled the term “pot liquors,” earning a letter of rebuke to the editor from Georgia’s Lieutenant Governor Zell Miller.

      Miller Z. Pot liquor or potlikker? [letter to editor]. February 23, 1982. New York Times website. http://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/23/us/pot-liquor-or-potlikker.html. Accessed October 20, 2014.

      Figure thumbnail fx6
      The opening event at the 1938 Academy of Nutriton and Dietetics Annual Meeting in Milwaukee, WI, included an abendmahl, a supper comprising German foods
      • Cassell J.A.
      Carry the Flame: The History of the American Dietetic Association.
      American Dietetic Association, Chicago, IL1990
      ; this menu was likely selected because of Milwaukee’s national reputation at that time as a hub for German immigration, dating back to the 1840s.

      Milwaukee Timeline. Milwaukee Co. Historical Society website. http://www.milwaukeehistory.net/education/milwaukee-timeline/. Accessed October 27, 2014.

      However, the culinary highlight of the meeting may have been this cake, standing nearly 3 feet high. The honor of cutting the cake was bestowed upon a recent dietetics course graduate.
      • Cassell J.A.
      Carry the Flame: The History of the American Dietetic Association.
      American Dietetic Association, Chicago, IL1990
      Figure thumbnail fx7
      The opening mixer at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ 1955 Annual Meeting in St. Louis, MO—with a “Meet Me in St. Louis” theme—was dedicated to the Academy’s executive board, state presidents, and the exhibitors staffing the then record-setting 258 booths.
      • Cassell J.A.
      Carry the Flame: The History of the American Dietetic Association.
      American Dietetic Association, Chicago, IL1990
      Perhaps hot dogs were served at this event because of the popular belief that hot dogs were first introduced at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis

      Diamond K. 10 amazing things you might not know about St. Louis. August 7, 2014. Fox 2 St. Louis website. http://fox2now.com/2014/08/07/10-reasons-why-st-louis-is-awesome/comment-page-1/. Accessed October 23, 2014.

      , 

      Butler S. Foods of the World’s Fairs. July 7, 2012. History.com website. http://www.history.com/news/hungry-history/foods-of-the-worlds-fairs. Accessed October 23, 2014.

      ; however, some historians place the hot dog’s origins in 1892 New Jersey,

      Searching history for the hot dog’s origin. July 4, 2011. NPR website. http://www.npr.org/2011/07/04/137530290/searching-history-for-the-hot-dogs-origin. Accessed October 23, 2014.

      early 19th century Germany,

      Sicoli C. The 5 largest hot dog companies in America. March 7, 2014. TheRichest.com. http://www.therichest.com/business/companies-business/the-5-largest-hot-dog-corporations-in-america/. Accessed October 23, 2014.

      or as far back as Nero’s Roman Empire.

      Butler S. Break out the buns: The history of the hot dog. August 28, 2013. History.com website. http://www.history.com/news/hungry-history/break-out-the-buns-the-history-of-the-hot-dog. Accessed October 23, 2014.

      In 1955, consumption of hot dogs was less of a health concern than today. In fact, upper limits for nitrites in food were only first established by the World Health Organization in 1962, based on a US Food and Drug Administration report on data regarding the effects of nitrates in animal studies.
      • Katan M.B.
      Nitrate in foods: Harmful or healthy?.
      Am J Clin Nutr. 2009; 90: 11-12
      In recent years, however, data have suggested that nitrites and nitrates are not as harmful as previously thought and, in fact, may yield some health benefits in cardiovascular disease and blood pressure (though recommendations center on obtaining nitrate from green, leafy vegetables and not hot dogs).
      • Cunningham E.
      Dietary Nitrates and Nitrites—Harmful? Helpful? Or Paradox?.
      J Acad Nutr Diet. 2013; 113: 1268
      Figure thumbnail fx8
      French onion soup was on the menu for the banquet at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ 1957 Annual Meeting in Miami, FL. This soup had appeared in cookbooks since colonial days, and the recipe popularized to Americans was an offshoot of 17th century French bouillon. But soon after this meeting, this dish—French cooking overall, in fact—experienced a surge in attention in the United States.

      Food Timeline. French onion soup. Food Timeline website. http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodsoups.html#frenchonionsoup. Accessed October 27, 2014.

      First, in 1961, the first-ever professional chef, Rene Verdon, was hired to work in the White House kitchen by Jacqueline Kennedy.

      Butler S. Fifty years ago: The food of the Kennedy White House. History.com website. http://www.history.com/news/hungry-history/fifty-years-ago-the-food-of-the-kennedy-white-house. Accessed October 27, 2014.

      Then, in 1963, Julia Child’s “The French Chef” program debuted on public television. On her show’s second episode, Child instructed viewers on how to cook French onion soup from scratch; she suggested grating raw onion into the finished soup, using at least a ½ inch layer of cheese, and adding a poached egg on top of the croutes.

      Stepp S. Onion soup gratinee from the late, great Julia Child. January 16, 2013. Gaston Gazette website. http://www.gastongazette.com/lifestyles/food/onion-soup-gratinee-from-the-late-great-julia-child-1.79780. Accessed October 27, 2014.

      Child was a speaker at the Academy’s 1991 Annual Meeting in Dallas, TX. She, along with C. Wayne Callaway, MD, and Jan F. Weimer, MA, presented “Resetting the American Table: Creating a New Alliance of Taste and Health,” which was presided by Mary Abbott Hess, LHD, MS, RD, LDN, FAND, the Academy’s former president in 1991.
      Figure thumbnail fx9
      The menu from a dinner at the 1967 International Committee of Dietetic Associations meeting in London. Redcurrant jelly, traditionally served with lamb, is a popular dish in the United Kingdom. Redcurrants, shiny berries that grow on bushes, were not as popular in the United States as in Europe—this is attributable partly to the general consensus that European redcurrants have a superior taste to those grown in North America, and perhaps largely to the a federal ban on all currant cultivation (the fungus from black currants was deadly for white pine trees) from the turn of the 20th century until just 1 year before this international meeting convened.

      Rentschler K. The Bold Red Berry With a Zest for Summer. July 3, 2002. New York Times website. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/03/dining/the-bold-red-berry-with-a-zest-for-summer.html. Accessed October 23, 2014.

      This special-occasion dish may have been the perfect accompaniment for international dietetics in 1967, as there was a specific development to celebrate: This was the very year that dietitians were standardized under the International Standard Classification of Occupations and the International Labour Office both confirmed this classification and adopted the standard spelling dietitian.

      The “c” in dietitians: A long history and fading future (maybe). Dietetics Around the World [newsletter]. 2010;17(2). International Confederation of Dietetic Associations website. http://www.internationaldietetics.org/Newsletter/Vol17Issue2/Feature-Article/The-c-in-dietitians-a-long-history-and-fading-futu.aspx. Accessed October 23, 2014.

      Figure thumbnail fx10
      The menu from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ 1967 Annual Meeting banquet in Boston, MA. Though “Boston” is commonly placed in front of baked beans and cream pie, the region is also well-known for its seafood soups. In fact, seafood bisque was included in several early cookbooks published out of Boston, including Mary Lincoln’s Mrs. Lincoln’s Boston Cook Book (1884) and the first edition of Fannie Farmer’s bestselling Boston Cooking School Cookbook (1896).

      History.com. August 23, 1902: Fannie Farmer opens cooking school. History.com website. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fannie-farmer-opens-cooking-school. Accessed October 29, 2014.

      Lincoln and Farmer were among the individuals founding cooking schools near the end of the 19th century that “laid the groundwork for the dietetic profession in America.”
      • Cassell J.A.
      Carry the Flame: The History of the American Dietetic Association.
      American Dietetic Association, Chicago, IL1990
      Many founding members of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics were, indeed, graduates of these schools (often called “dietists”); Mary Boland, one of the first dietitians to migrate from the nursing profession, was a graduate of the Boston Cooking School.
      • Cassell J.A.
      Carry the Flame: The History of the American Dietetic Association.
      American Dietetic Association, Chicago, IL1990
      Figure thumbnail fx11
      Though the menu for the banquet for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ 1975 Annual Meeting in San Antonio, TX, was presented in both English and Spanish, aside from jicama and pimiento, the selections comprised decidedly French foods. One might assume that Hollandaise sauce—which uses butter and egg yolks as binding—is Dutch in origin, but this sauce was originally called “sauce Isigny,” after a Normandy town then known for its butter. French butter production in World War I was suspended and replaced with imported Holland butter. The name was changed to acknowledge the butter source but was never changed back once France resumed producing butter.

      History of sauces. What’s Cooking America website. http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/SauceHistory.htm. Accessed October 27, 2014.

      It was at this banquet that a World War II dietitian—COL Katherine E. Manchester—was awarded the Marjorie Hulsizer Copher Award, the Academy’s highest honor. COL. Manchester was the first military dietitian to be elected to the Academy’s presidency (1971-1972).
      • Cassell J.A.
      Carry the Flame: The History of the American Dietetic Association.
      American Dietetic Association, Chicago, IL1990
      Figure thumbnail fx12
      The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ 50th anniversary Annual Meeting banquet menu. Though naturally the fruit cocktail served at the banquet was made fresh, fruit salad had existed as a canned product since 1893—a means to make use of otherwise unusable and damaged fruits—but it is thought to have been officially rebranded and marketed as “fruit cocktail” in the 1930s.

      Cannery life: The mystery of fruit cocktail. History San Jose website. http://www.historysanjose.org/cannerylife/through-the-years/1917-1966/mechanization/fruit-cocktail.html. Accessed November 3, 2014.

      Though the product she spoke of was a variation of what we currently know as fruit cocktail, there is a possibility that the term fruit cocktail may well have come from Sarah Tyson Rorer. Rorer is an important name in dietetics: she was among the founders of early cooking schools, was highly respected by Philadelphia’s medical community, was a national household name, and—perhaps most importantly—was named “the first American dietitian” in an article penned by Mary Pascoe Huddleson, the Journal’s editor-in-chief from 1927-1946.
      • Cassell J.A.
      Carry the Flame: The History of the American Dietetic Association.
      American Dietetic Association, Chicago, IL1990
      , 
      • Huddleson M.P.
      A new profession is born.
      J Am Diet Assoc. 1947; 23: 573-578
      In Mrs. Rorer’s New Cook Book (1902)—one among 54 cookbooks she authored—Rorer noted, “In these latter days, many American cooks make a mixture of fruit, sugar, and alcohol, and serve them as ‘salad.’ These are not salads; are heavy, rather unwholesome, and will never take the place of a salad. I much prefer to call them fruit cocktails, and serve them as a first course at a luncheon or a twelve o’clock breakfast; or a dessert, and serve them with the ices at the close of the meal.”

      The Food Timeline. Salads: Fruit cocktail. Foo Timeline website. http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodsalads.html#fruitcocktail. Accessed November 3, 2014.

      Figure thumbnail fx13
      In 1997, this cake was served to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in Boston, MA. As the Academy and its members were making their case for legislative activity to attain third-party reimbursement for medical nutrition therapy, expanding their role in providing food and nutrition services to the public, becoming more responsive to consumer needs, and increasing members’ competitive edge in the marketplace, “Maximize Value” was the theme of this meeting.
      • Fitz P.A.
      Maximize value—Presenting the 1997-1998 Board of Directors.
      J Am Diet Assoc. 1997; 97: 669-672
      Celebrating value in dietetics was relevant in 1997 for another reason: This was the year the Institute of Medicine released the first Dietary Reference Intakes—for magnesium, fluoride, vitamin D, calcium, and phosphorus—which encompassed the Estimated Average Requirement, the Recommended Daily Allowance, Adequate Intake, and Tolerable Upper Intake Levels to standardize nutrient recommendations in the United States and Canada.
      Standing Committee on the Scientific Evaluation of Dietary Reference Intakes; Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine
      Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Vitamin D, and Fluoride.
      National Academies Press, Washington, DC1997
      Figure thumbnail fx14
      Photographs of the dishes served at various meetings of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Row 1, L to R: Board of Directors dinner, September 1997; federal legislative session, October 1997. Row 2, L to R: Academy Foundation Board of Directors dinner, April 1998; Legislative and Public Policy Committee dinner, March 1998. Row 3, L to R: Board of Directors retreat, June 1997; International Confederation of Dietetic Associations luncheon, October 1997. These photographs were taken on camera roll and printed by Beverly Bajus, chief operating officer of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics from 1991-1998, well in advance of the ubiquity using digital cameras to document what we’re eating on social media. Because food is “a central part of family life and social events,” making it “only natural that photographers gravitated toward documenting that activity,”

      O’Neill C. Tasteful pictures: The art of food photography. April 30, 2010. [The Daily Picture Show.] NPR website. http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2010/04/30/126412571/tasteful-pictures. Accessed November 7, 2014.

      it became part and parcel that “food photography stopped being just an illustration for a cookbook or magazine. Now the picture itself is the story.”

      Agins MV. Your eyes are happier than your stomach. July 8, 2014. New York Times website. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/09/dining/dishes-worthy-of-instagram-but-not-your-appetite.html. Accessed November 7, 2014.

      It has been argued that, “The act of snapping a picture is no longer enough to confirm reality and enhance experience; only sharing can give us that validation.”

      Rosenberg K. Everyone's lives, in pictures. April 21, 2012. New York Times website. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/sunday-review/everyones-lives-in-pictures-from-instagram.html?_r=0. Accessed November 7, 2014.

      Still-life food photographs are among the most shared photographs on Instagram,

      Orf D. 3dAround camera app will add a new dimension to your food photography. October 26, 2014. Gizmodo website. http://gizmodo.com/upcoming-photo-app-adds-a-new-dimension-to-your-food-ph-1650923073. Accessed November 7, 2014.

      thereby transforming food culture into a “visual medium” wherein, “We’re eating with our eyes first.”

      Agins MV. Your eyes are happier than your stomach. July 8, 2014. New York Times website. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/09/dining/dishes-worthy-of-instagram-but-not-your-appetite.html. Accessed November 7, 2014.

      So widespread is the interest in food photography, in fact, that apps to improve the mealtime snapshots by smartphone users are recently coming to market.

      Orf D. 3dAround camera app will add a new dimension to your food photography. October 26, 2014. Gizmodo website. http://gizmodo.com/upcoming-photo-app-adds-a-new-dimension-to-your-food-ph-1650923073. Accessed November 7, 2014.

      Food photography has not just become another way to connect socially, however—in 2010, the Journal published the results of a study regarding use of computer-based food photography in the development of a new approach to self-administered, 24-hour dietary recall.
      • Subar A.F.
      • Crafts J.
      • Palmer Zimmerman T.
      • et al.
      Assessment of the accuracy of portion size reports using computer-based food photographs aids in the development of an automated, self-administered 24-hour recall.
      J Am Diet Assoc. 2010; 110: 55-64

      What’s on the Menu?

      Although the media conversation about “what dietitians eat” is often rooted in giving rise to a behavioral model as consumers seek to understand why some foods may have more nutritive value than others, sometimes the “why” goes beyond the mere nutrient composition of a food or meal. As seen in the menus and photographs from past meetings, the “why” can also be reflective of the history of a region, an organization, a people, a culture—and perhaps reflective of the history of the junction where they all meet.

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      Article info

      Publication history

      Published online: January 27, 2015

      Footnotes

      This article was written by Karen Stein, MFA, freelance writer, Traverse City, MI, consultant editor for the Nutrition Care Manual, and a former Editor of the Journal.

      Identification

      DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2014.11.019

      Copyright

      © 2015 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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