Milk in Spain and the History of Diet Change - (Food in Modern History: Traditions and Innovations) by Fernando Collantes (Hardcover)

About the Book

In barely three generations the Spanish diet has changed beyond recognition. The traditional concerns around nutritional health and scarcity have been mostly left behind, but they have given way to new problems linked to excess. In this book Fernando Collantes shows how the dairy industry has been central to this societal shift. From widespread calcium deficiency in the 1950s to the more recent, and controversial, turn to highly processed foods, it provides a recent history of diet change in Spain. Probing the reasons behind why this shift has occurred, and how, it shows that when it comes to food society, politics, economics and the law are intrinsically linked. Taking the reader beyond the world of food, Milk in Spain and the History of Diet Change combines qualitative and quantitative methods to position diet change within the broader debate on consumer society and 'the good life'. Contrasting two models of food consumption, it shows that unless public policy takes the challenge of affluence seriously, the food system can become an obstacle to a better society. --

Book Synopsis

In barely three generations the Spanish diet has changed beyond recognition. The traditional concerns around nutritional health and scarcity have been mostly left behind, but they have given way to new problems linked to excess. In this book Fernando Collantes shows how the dairy industry has been central to this societal shift. From widespread calcium deficiency in the 1950s to the more recent, and controversial, turn to highly processed foods, it provides a recent history of diet change in Spain. Probing the reasons behind why this shift has occurred, and how, it shows that when it comes to food society, politics, economics and the law are intrinsically linked.

Taking the reader beyond the world of food, Milk in Spain and the History of Diet Change combines qualitative and quantitative methods to position diet change within the broader debate on consumer society and 'the good life'. Contrasting two models of food consumption, it shows that unless public policy takes the challenge of affluence seriously, the food system can become an obstacle to a better society.

Review Quotes

A triumph of food history! Fernando Collantes cleverly teases out the main trends in supply and consumption using a combination of detailed empirical evidence and explanatory theoretical models. The result is a satisfying mix of nutritional, economic, and socio-cultural insights.
Peter Atkins, Durham University, UK

Based on an innovative bridge between Schumpeter and Braudel, Fernando Collantes delivers in this book not only a detailed account of the Spanish diet since the 1950s, but also a new vision of the material roots of historical evolution, conflicts and innovation.
Francisco Louçã, University of Lisbon, Portugal

Unpacks the fascinating journey of Spain's relationship with dairy products. Spain's late adoption and early shift out of fresh milk highlight a broader trend: people often do not act in their own best interests. This stimulating book examines the reasons behind these choices.
Avner Offer, University of Oxford, UK

About the Author

Fernando Collantes is Associate Professor of Socio-Economic History at University of Oviedo, Spain. He is the author of Peaceful surrender: the depopulation of rural Spain in the twentieth century (with Vicente Pinilla 2011) and The political economy of the Common Agricultural Policy: coordinated capitalism or bureaucratic monster? (2020).