The word “calorie” is usually related to things such as diet and nutrition, the usual things that we think of whenever we hear of the word. But, it isn’t just a tool for the public understanding of nutrition. Historian Nick Cullather writes that for over a century, the calorie is used in the public understanding of labor relations and foreign policies as well.
For government officials, the utility of the calorie was immediately clear. It could help with efficient management of nutrition for prisons, schools, and armies. Extending Frederick Taylor’s time and motion studies, calorie counts could determine the most efficient ways of feeding an industrial workforce—an idea that workers and their unions resisted, recognizing it as a way to justify low wages.
The calorie also let scientists compare the diets of different nations. Journalists enthused about the possibilities that quantified nutrition might offer for changing the eating habits of Asians in particular. As the Review of Reviews asked, “what can we expect either of physical or moral vigor from communities who live on the physical plane of millions in the Orient?”
More about this over at JSTOR Daily.
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