Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
big appetite: the emergence and
evolution of u.s. mass markets
The rise in U.S. consumption rates of tropical agricultural commodi-
ties in the late nineteenth century was unprecedented. Between 1870 and
1920,totalsugarconsumptiongrewbyseventimeswhileannualpercapita
consumptionmorethandoubledfrom35.3poundsto85.5pounds.During
this same time span, U.S. coffee imports rose from 231 million pounds to
approximately1.5billionpounds.Between1883and1900,percapitacoffee
consumption jumped from 9 pounds to 13 pounds. As late as the mid-
1880s, citrus was a luxury item; by 1914, people in the United States were
eating approximately 40 oranges per person each year. During this time
period, California emerged as the major source for many kinds of decidu-
ous fruits. For example, between 1882 and 1891, shipments of raisins from
Fresno County increased from 80,000 pounds to 45,000,000 pounds!
7
In 1909, the entire state produced 31.5 million bushels of fruit, including
three-quartersofallcitrusconsumedintheUnitedStates.
8
Ofcourse,food
was not the only thing being consumed in greater quantities during this
period; a slew of manufactured goods ranging from sewing machines to
soap to cigarettes proliferated in both urban and rural areas in the United
States.
9
Anumberofexplanationshavebeenofferedtoaccountforthisex-
traordinary increase in consumption. Sidney Mintz and Michael Jiménez
have linked rising consumption of sugar and coffee to changes taking
place in industrial capitalism, including the formation of a large, urban-
dwelling working class. Environmental historian John McNeill includes
population growth and technological innovations as the ''engines of
change'' that powered twentieth-century resource consumption. Business
historianAlfredChandlerhasidentifieda''managerialrevolution''inlate-
nineteenth-century business, which, along with a series of U.S. Supreme
Court decisions, gave rise to corporations possessing su
cient capital
(andlimitedliabilities)toachievetheeconomiesofscaleandverticalinte-
gration necessary to increase productivity, lower unit costs of production,
and enforce quality standards.
10
There is little doubt that increases in food consumption coincided
withasetof interrelateddemographic,economic,legal,andtechnological
changes. Between the 1870s and the 1920s, the population of the United
States increased from approximately 38.5 million people to more than 100
million. During this period, domestic and international migrations (in-
cluding more than 23 million arrivals from Europe) swelled the popula-
