The most nutritious food: debates and practices about milk consumption in Mexico

Abstract

This text explores milk consumption in Mexico City from 1930-1960, starting with the implementation of public policies and day-to-day practices. The text examines the strategies employed by the Mexican state to increase milk consumption by importing powdered milk, rehydrating it and distributing it at subsidized prices. Doctors, nutritionists and the dairy industry reproduced a discourse of milk’s superiority, denying or questioning the nutritional value of low-dairy diets. Life histories show women’s perspective and the difficulties in implementing middle-class ideals in peasant and working-class homes.