Somogyi Múzeumok Közleményei 17/C. - Társadalomtudományi tanulmányok (2006)

Knézy Judit: Újítások a falusi közösségek táplálkozási kultúrájában Magyarországon (1920–1970) - Innovations in food culture among the rural communities of Hungary. (1920–1970)

ÚJÍTÁSOK A FALUSI KÖZÖSSÉGEK TÁPLÁLKOZÁSI KULTÚRÁJÁBAN MAGYARORSZÁGON (1920-1970) 67 Innovations in food culture among the rural communities of Hungary. (1920—1970) JUDIT KNÉZY This study is about the process of the changes in the nutrition of the agricultural population between 1880 and 1970. In this period of time, which is considered as the last researched period of the rural nutritional history, the author examines the issues of preserved traditions and innovations mainly among the rural people of Southern Transdanubia and the highlands of Balaton, with the supplement of nations-wide connections of this theme. In the first part, the study describes the changes in the production structure, the technical advancement and the nutrition by the end of the 19

th century. These changes were backed by the growing process of industrialisation and urbanisation and the improvement in travelling opportunities. More intensive species of domestic animals became more universal (better milking cattle, 'mangalica' and 'engiish' pig varieties), the milling industry developed (more sorts of flour were made, so more sorts of pastry could be made), the growing urban demand of fresh fruits caused an increase in the farmlands of fruit and wine gardening, as the coffee consumption became universal the habit of the two main meals per day vanished. The process of inventions was slowed by the First World War and the famine thai followed. By the end of the 1920s these processes fastened again, and effected even greater numbers, as the people of smaller villages and the serves of estates were also involved in them. The discussed questions in this part of the study are: a,/ How and by whom are the nutritional habits handed down in the family, b,/ What are those special groups in the rural communities, that have a role in the preservation of nutritional habits (the cooking women of greater events, men working far from home - fishermen, hunters, shepherds), c,/ Who are the intermediaries of innovations and who are the main 'adopters' of these novelties, d,/ Which institutes or organisations felt responsible for the improvement of the rural life (the written media: calendars, cooking and household books, and the presentations in the radio). As these aspects suggest, the study examines the following themes: sharing experience in the family, the effect of the groups of cooking women and men, the interactions between different groups living together (of different nationalities, or the 'natives' and the 'newcomers'), the special occassions as the possibility for sharing nutritional habits, the role of the intermediaries in the acceptance of innovations (marketing women and men, carters and craftsmen), the role of rural catering and tourism, the experiences of the soldiers taking part in the World Wars, and the role of economic and household lectures. The role of outsiders became more significant in the nutritional changes among the rural people and the employees, serves during the 1920s, as they became more aware of the different nutrition of the foreign gardeners, cooks and cooking women in estates, shopkeepers, innkeepers, craftsmen, intellectual workers (priests, scribes, teachers and doctors) and the managing employees of the estates and their families. The residents, who were temporary away as serves or maids, and the wives coming from other villages or region had the same effect on the food culture of the given village. The teachers, who held lectures on household activities, milk processing, gardening, cooking and health care, had dedicated themselves to modernise the lifestyle of the rural people by presenting a more healthy approach of the nutrition. The study also outlines the special 'famine' diet of the time during and after the Second World War, and the industrial substitutes that had an important role in the nutrition of this time. The part concerning with the past-war times shows a complete restructuring in the rural food culture. It is not a totally urbanised nutrition, but a modified rural food culture, that is affected by the urban one, but preserves the old (local) and the newly known (of other regions or villages) habits, and it is still different in the several subgroups of the community.