sophus-b: oocbiodiagrams: EAT MOAR FORTIFIED MARGARINE #if anyone knows what the rationale is on gro
sophus-b: oocbiodiagrams: EAT MOAR FORTIFIED MARGARINE #if anyone knows what the rationale is on groups 1-3 #please chime in #i’m stumped #i thought group 2 might be orangey plants but I think that’s a carrot in 3 #no idea what potatoes and grapes have in common #also why are they numbered clockwise from the top right that is a bizarre design choiceSo, I went and asked my parents, who are old enough that they could be primary sources on the advertisement’s contemporaneous influences, and here’s my guesses, based on going between them and research for a couple iterations:Group 1 seems to be “High Fiber”. High-fiber diets were apparently a Thing back in the 50s and 60s.I mean, they were a Thing before then, (see: Sylvester Graham of the eponymous Graham crackers), but they became a Thing of their own again in the 50s and 60s: Not only did fiber have the previous eras’ cultural preoccupation with constipation and “staying regular” behind it, but new scientific discoveries were bringing its dietary role into the spotlight.Around this time, the famous surgeon and researcher Denis Burkitt had documented the link between high-fiber diets and a reduction in cancers of the bowel, and became an avid evangelist for the cause of bran. Many “Western diseases”, he proposed, were caused by the modern diet, and their epidemic could be curtailed by a return to a more ancestral eating pattern. Namely: more fiber.In fact, at times, Burkitt may have been more well known as his press moniker “The Bran Man” than he was for his eponym-worthy work on Burkitt’s lymphoma.Furthermore, based on a brief survey of the Google Scholar results on “high fiber diet” in the 1950s and 60s, it seems that the early 60s was when the link between fiber and cholesterol levels was discovered, furthering high-fiber diets’ rise into the popular consciousness, and likely, into the layout of this advertisement.My best guess is that Group 2 is “Fruits With High Vitamin C”.If fiber was a Thing, vitamin C was The Thing. It was the first vitamin ever to be synthesized in 1933, and with the rise of the commercial vitamin pill, and Linus Pauling’s promotion in the popular consciousness, people believed that vitamin C was a panacea to all ills: not only was it a savior from scurvy, but it could cure the common cold; it could clear your skin; it could fix your teeth and bolster your bones; it could make you young and spry into your hundreds; it could call down a flight of angels from the heavens to kiss you upon the forehead.With vitamins, you would be saved.Additionally, looking at modern pop-science lists of High Vitamin C Fruits™, a lot of the produce they name, (mango, pineapple, berries), wouldn’t be available year-round for the average 1960s grocery buyer. Oranges, tomatoes, and grapefruit would have been three such things you could feasibly find, if at a price.Finally, regarding Group 3: There’s really not much of a unifying theme between potatoes, and “other vegetables and fruits”. (Perhaps “simple carbohydrates”, though that’s likely merely a common theme by dint of excluding group 1, and ignores the numerous non-green, non-yellow fruits and vegetables that aren’t particularly starchy.)So, my best guess is that the last group is just, “Every Other Plant Product Left Over From Groups 1 & 2”. Out of context diagram acquires context?! Possibly! -- source link