Thirteenth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

On June 1, 1968, George I. Sanchez, chairman of the Mexican American Joint Conference wrote to the Texas Board of Public Health asking for the removal of the Commissioner of Public Welfare following an interview where the commissioner stated, “If a Mexican woman had a bushel of money, she would still feed her kids tortillas and beans,” indicating that food choices rather than circumstances caused malnourishment among people of Mexican origin. Hunger has been a prominent actor in society and this paper explores the social constructions of hunger. Biologically, hunger is defined as the absence of food causing the desire to consume – a commonly recognized sensation. The social constructions of hunger help to define aspects of identity like ethnicity and race. Centering on the experiences of people of Mexican origin, this paper offers examples of the social constructions of hunger from the 20th century, particularly during the War on Poverty, the Civil Rights Movement, and the labor migration of Mexicans to the U.S. As a population that has historically trekked to the U.S. to work in agriculture it is ironic that this group would also be at the center of discussions about hunger and malnourishment. Nonetheless, the discourse used by social workers, nutrition experts, and government officials to describe the dietary circumstances of the Mexican origin population in the U.S. held culture and ethnicity as the culprits of hunger. This paper explores how hunger served to define the community of Mexican origin racially in the U.S.