Milk, social acceptance of a new food in Europe: Catalonia, 19th-20th centuries

Abstract

In this article we analyse the time course of the consumption of fresh milk in different regions of Europe between the 1870s and 1930s. Working from the case of Catalonia, we affirm that the increasing consumption of milk in that period must be especially linked to the spreading of new scientific knowledge in microbiology and nutrition that followed Pasteur’s discoveries. We particularly highlight the information dissemination activities in this direction carried out by health sector professionals (medical doctors and pharmacists), governing local institutions and the milk industry. The initiatives developed by these groups changed people’s preferences —fresh milk became accepted as a necessary food-stuff, and demand for it increased. However, the evolution of consumption was not the same in all regions of Europe due to their different environmental and agronomic conditions.