The atomic meal: The cold war and irradiated foods, 1945-1963
Titel:
The atomic meal: The cold war and irradiated foods, 1945-1963
Auteur:
Buchanan, Nicholas
Verschenen in:
History and technology
Paginering:
Jaargang 21 (2005) nr. 2 pagina's 221-249
Jaar:
2005-06
Inhoud:
Following World War II, food technologists in the US participated in an Army-led program to develop food irradiation technology. The program involved over 120 military, government, industrial, and academic institutions. Focusing on the MIT Department of Food Technology, I trace the networks that formed between these groups and their motivations for developing the technology. I argue that food irradiation was Cold War science directed towards the development of a consumer product, and that it highlighted the links between large-scale military-funded research and consumers' everyday lives. I suggest that researchers advocated for irradiation not because the technology produced better processed food, but because the development of the technology produced a number of valuable benefits for the researchers. These included increases in funding, materials, and prestige.
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