Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 8.06 Foodways and Nutrition
Presentation #1 Title
Company Towns as Rural Food Deserts: Old Solutions to a Modern Dilemma
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Rural food deserts pose a significant problem in modern America, and Appalachia in particular. Food deserts have been associated with the rise of diseases such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes within both the country and the region of Appalachia as well. This paper examines how we define rural food desserts, and compares the problems of these ‘modern’ phenomena to the situations that were imposed on late 19th and early 20th century families living in company owned labor towns in New River coal fields. This comparison is accomplished through an analysis of oral history transcripts collected from individuals by the National Park Service during the 1980s. Utilizing this evidence, along with historical and economic reports, this paper demonstrates that the dilemma of the ‘rural food desert’ is a very old problem, not a new one. Though an examination of the commentary on food by oral history interviewees, this paper posits that their solutions to living in a food desert are still viable, and constructs ways by which these old solution can be used in modern times at both the policy and individual levels.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Carl DeMuth is a graduate student at Indiana University studying the archaeology of West Virginia's early mining towns in the New River Gorge region. He is interested in the social forces that shaped the experiences of mining families and allowed for a relaxation of race-based social boundaries in these company towns.
Company Towns as Rural Food Deserts: Old Solutions to a Modern Dilemma
Corbly Hall 268
Rural food deserts pose a significant problem in modern America, and Appalachia in particular. Food deserts have been associated with the rise of diseases such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes within both the country and the region of Appalachia as well. This paper examines how we define rural food desserts, and compares the problems of these ‘modern’ phenomena to the situations that were imposed on late 19th and early 20th century families living in company owned labor towns in New River coal fields. This comparison is accomplished through an analysis of oral history transcripts collected from individuals by the National Park Service during the 1980s. Utilizing this evidence, along with historical and economic reports, this paper demonstrates that the dilemma of the ‘rural food desert’ is a very old problem, not a new one. Though an examination of the commentary on food by oral history interviewees, this paper posits that their solutions to living in a food desert are still viable, and constructs ways by which these old solution can be used in modern times at both the policy and individual levels.
