New Orleans is a melting pot of many different cultures. The city was founded by the French in 1718, and ceded to the Spanish who ruled it for almost 40 years before being purchased by the United States in 1803 (Stewart et al.). Along with the French and Spanish, enslaved Africans were brought to the city. Diversity increased even more in the 19th century when other European immigrants poured into the city.
The mixing of all these different cultures will later give birth to the unique Creole culture that distinguishes New Orleans. One of these cultures that never gets too much credit is the Italian one. In fact, it is not widely known that Italian immigrants played an important role in shaping the culture of the city of New Orleans. In particular, they enriched the city’s culinary culture and contributed to the development of New Orleans native music, the Jazz.
Evidence shows that Italians were present in Louisiana since the very beginning. Enrico Tonti was an Italian serving in the French army and, with La Salle, he is credited for the discovery of Louisiana (Pietro Vitelli). According to Vitelli “There is nary a mention [of him] in the official histories”. Just a street in New Orleans takes his name. Italians were among the first settlers and continued to migrate into colonial Louisiana throughout the 19th century. By 1850, they were the largest Italian population in the whole country, [before New York and Chicago] (Gaudin).
These early Italian migrations consisted of skilled workers mostly from northern Italy, and according to Magnaghi “their contribution has been generally neglected by historians.” After the Civil War, Louisiana was in need of laborers and a massive influx of Sicilians fleeing poverty came to New Orleans to fill this need. Some of them worked at the docks along with African-Americans. Others worked for sugar cane planters trying to save up enough money to open their own businesses or buy their own land. A lot of Sicilians moved into the decaying apartments of the lower French quarter that became locally known as “little Palermo” (Diana C. Monteleone). Joseph Maselli notes that “By 1910,… the city’s French Quarter was 80 percent Sicilian”(13). “Here was a neighborhood that was founded and named after the French, that exhibited the architecture of Spain, but which was filled with the faces and voices of Sicily” (M.Scott).
Sicilians had a big impact on the history of food in New Orleans. From laborers, they eventually were able to open their own corner grocery stores, sell their produce at the French market, and open cafes and bakeries around the city. Soon, the Italians were fully involved in the “food-distribution empire” of the city (Nystrom). Among them were farmers, wholesalers, fruit dealers, import-export business leaders, and store owners. “The French Market consisted primarily of Italian merchants from 1880 until 1850”(Maselli, 23).
The businesses that flourished during the “little Palermo” era contributed to the enrichment of the food scene in New Orleans. Many businesses were successful, and are still operating today. Among the most well-known are Central Grocery, The Roman Candy Cart, Angelo Brocato, and Progresso foods.
Central Grocery is a small Italian store known for inventing New Orleans’ famous Muffuletta sandwich, and it is now a tourist attraction. According to an article on the New Orleans Advocate Salvatore Lupo opened the store in 1906, near the French market. The store had a deli section where it sold freshly baked muffuletta bread (a Sicilian popular type of bread), cold cuts, cheeses, and olives. Italian truck farmers would come into town to bring their produce to sell at the market and, on their way home, they would stop at the store to have lunch. The rush to get back on the road made the owner come up with a to-go solution. He grabbed the muffuletta bread (which the sandwich gets its name from) and stuffed with cold cuts, cheeses, and olive salad. The store was passed on to the grandson who still sells the original Muffuletta.
Another business started by a Sicilian immigrant is the Roman Candy Cart. According to Murphy, it was established in 1915 by Sam Cortese selling strawberry, vanilla and chocolate taffy for five cents a stick. It first started with 12-year-old Sam who sold fruits and vegetables from a goat-drawn cart. Sometimes he would bring leftover taffy candies that his mom had made to sell on the cart. The candy was such a success that he began selling it on a regular basis, and it never stopped. After his death, the business passed on to his Grandson that still operates it today (88).
Angelo Brocato, named after the founder, is a well-known Italian-stye gelato and pastry shop famous for his Sicilian cannoli. The shop is now in Mid-city, but the original one first opened in the French Quarter in 1905 (Murphy and Asher,5). After learning the profession in a fancy gelato shop in Palermo, Angelo emigrated to New Orleans and worked in a sugarcane plantation. When he finally had enough money saved up, he opened his own shop modeling the one he had worked for. The shop is now run by his grandson, Angelo Brocato III (Murphy and Asher. 5).
Progresso Foods is a canned Italian-style food company and was founded in New Orleans by Giuseppe Uddo. Young Giuseppe was a food peddler back in Sicily. In 1907, he and his wife decided to move to United States for a better life (Denker). After a difficult time, he began making tomato sauce and canned it to sell it to fellow Italians. The business grew and he expanded by purchasing a warehouse and opening a grocery store. He later opened in California the first canned tomato paste factory in the Country (Grayson). Progresso expanded its market and began selling canned soups, beans, and vegetables. It was the first company in America to deliver ready-to-eat soups (Denker). Soon the brand was sold all over the US. The company was sold to General Mills after Uddo’s death (Denker).
Today there is not much left of what once was known as the “little Palermo”. Just a touristy corner store and a few restaurants. However, Italian-Americans still “maintain a high profile in the New Orleans food industry by operating restaurants and bakeries” (Monteleone).
Italian immigrants in New Orleans were not just about food. They also influenced the city’s music scene. Sicilian saxophonist, Francesco Cafiso, in an interview states that “The Sicilians have made a great contribution so that this genre [the jazz] could be born and evolve,”(qtd.in De Stefano). They brought their talent and classical influence from the motherland and shared it with the locals. They formed successful jazz bands and took the Jazz of New Orleans outside Louisiana making it famous worldwide. ”Many jazz critics often overlook the contributions that Italians have made to jazz, even though Italian American musicians have been major players in EVERY jazz genre…” (Del Cerro). Among the New Orleans-Italian Jazz players that made a difference in the world of Jazz are three Sicilians: Nick LaRocca, Leon Roppolo, and Louis Prima.
New Orleans is where Jazz was born. When exactly is still unknown, but we know that it evolved over a long period of time from a mixture of sounds of the many cultures that populated New Orleans at that time. The sound of Jazz initially sprouts in African-American and Creole communities. In the city, poor people of different backgrounds lived in the same neighborhoods facilitating cultural exchange (Jack Stewart et al.).
Sicilians and African-Americans worked and lived alongside sharing their forms of music with each other (Jovina Coughlin). As critic George De Stefano points out “[Sicilians] didn’t simply imitate…in the early days of jazz influence was a two-way street: Sicilian musicians learned the syncopated rhythms [of Blues and Ragetime] from African-Americans, while black players absorbed popular Italian melodies [and classical lines] like the lyric Italian trumpet sound.”Many of these early Jazz musicians were poor and uneducated and didn’t know how to read music, so they played by ear improvising. This was a completely new and exciting way to make music, different from the music of that time.
De Stefano notes that “Sicilians were the main European nationality group to adopt and perform [Jazz].” They formed their own bands, blending their rich European musical heritage with the rhythms and improvisation of the Jazz, and that was the key to their success. Many of the early Sicilian immigrants were hired as musicians by the French Opera House (Jovina Coughlin). Their sons would soon mark the history of Jazz taking it from a regional phenomenon to international popularity.
One such artist was cornetist and trumpeter Nick LaRocca. He started playing with the Papa Laine’s Reliance Brass Band in New Orleans and then became the leader of the Dixieland Jass Band in 1914 (“Dominik La Rocca”). The band moved to New York where they had an immediate success. They were the first white band to introduce New Orleans Jazz to the north (Nakamura, 24), and the first Jazz band to ever be recorded, selling over one million copies (“Dominik La Rocca”). The fame took them to tour England for over a year. According to an article on redhotjazz.com “The release of their record signed the beginning of the Jazz age”(“Original Dixieland J. B.”).
Another Sicilian artist was the talented clarinetist Leon Roppolo. At a young age, he joined the New Orleans Rhythm Kings that later became one of the most popular jazz bands in Chicago in the 1920s (“Leon Roppolo”, Wikipedia). He is considered to be the first one to ever record a jazz solo (“Leon Roppolo”, Red Hot J.A.). His career only lasted ten years, but his talent gained him an international reputation (Nakamura,33).
Another important figure in the history of Jazz is Louis Prima. Born and raised in the Treme, a predominantly African-American neighborhood, he picked up the music and the attitude of black musicians (The Ponderosa S.F.). He was a trumpeter, composer, and showman with a great sense of humor. His talent was discovered and brought to New York where his successful career began.
He put together a big band and composed some iconic jazz songs still famous today. He was the first Italian-American performer that was not afraid to show his origins including Italian songs into his work (Raeburn). In 1968, Disney created a character inspired by Prima (Raeburn), the orangutan King Louie of “The Jungle Book”, and used his signature voice for the song “I wanna be like you”( The Ponderosa S.F.). Prima is known as the “King of Swing”.
All these great talents inspired many other talented musicians and played an important role in the development/ history of jazz. Del Cerro underlines that ”Many jazz critics often overlook the contributions that Italians have made to jazz, even though Italian American musicians have been major players in EVERY jazz genre…” Unfortunately, many of them remain largely unacknowledged. The city of New Orleans tributes many of its music legends, but of these Sicilian jazz players, there is no trace.
Italians didn’t leave a visible imprint like the French and the Spanish did, leaving behind a city filled with French names and Spanish architecture still visible today. Italians never ruled New Orleans, but they were always there since the discovery of Louisiana. Although you never hear nor read too much about them, they inevitably were an important piece to the puzzle in creating the unique city that we know today…## in contributing to creating the unique city we know today. As journalist Mark Deane states “New Orleans was never the same after the Italians arrived.”
The United States Government: Private Profit Over Public Health
Abstract
For the longest time, the United States has been the land of opportunity for people all over the world for a better life. The U.S. has drawn some of the most intelligent, talented and ambitious minds of our time to come to this country and contribute to its ever-growing advancements in every field. In the past two decades, the amount of research being conducted, both public and private, has grown 6-fold.1 Here we are going to focus on research related to the health of human beings. The purpose of this literature review is to further understand what happens to health promoting research and why it doesn’t always translate into positive change to protect the health of Americans.
Introduction
In the United States in 2018, according to the American Heart Association, about 92.1 million Americans are living with some form of cardiovascular disease. According to the National Cancer Institute, in 2018 an estimated 1,735,350 new cases of cancer have been diagnosed in the United States and 609,640 people will die from the disease. According to the CDC, in 2015 9.4% of Americans were diagnosed with diabetes. These numbers are roughly 2 times higher than the UK and are 3 times higher than Canada. All of these nations are developed first world countries. So why are the numbers significantly higher in the United States? Especially since, according to Reuters, in 2017 the United States spent $ 3.5 trillion on healthcare. What is different in our diets, our water and our air? And why is there such a significant difference? All these questions have been asked over and over again by scientists across the nation. Research projects and years of study have been trying to understand more deeply the effects of longer shelf life of foods for example or the effects of BPA on the human body in hopes to initiate change in regulation guidelines and public health policy. But in many instances, the American people have yet to see the change. Where is the breakdown in this process and what are the reasons behind the research not always translating to change and overall better health as a nation?
Method
A broad search was conducted to identify key terms, to assess the various forms of literature and to establish a generalized structure for the review. The search strategy was refined and sources were identified by searching PubMed, government agency websites, independent research publications, and news articles. Inclusion criteria included reviews/publications of BPA/BPS, dyes (yellow#5, yellow#6, Red 3, Red 40), and BHT/BHA safety, Centers of Disease Control (CDC), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and their stances on various food additives as well as toxic exposure risks and safety limits. Searches were limited to primarily research and policy in the United States, but included some other first world countries and their policies for comparison purposes.
Given the scope of this public health issue with our government, there were a small amount of peer reviewed papers. Internet searches were conducted using the ‘Google’ search engine searching the term ‘why does the U.S. government allow toxic chemicals in American products’. There were 55,700 results. A practical approach was adopted, and the first 100 relevant results were reviewed. Of the 100 that were reviewed, 7 met the inclusion and topic criteria. A data extraction form was used to manage details of reviewed articles. Data extracted included the title and type of source, date published, the main points, and comments.
Results
- Thorough comparison and contrast of findings are provided and relate to the main discussion points in the order of their appearance in the purpose statement.
- Focus is on research findings rather than research methods.
- Study limitations that might have led to different findings are discussed.
- Gaps and controversies that exist in the literature are clearly discussed.
Seven sources the inclusion criteria. Below is the data extraction form. Excluded papers after full review and reasons for rejection are available from the author if needed.
Food-Related Findings
A personal search was conducted comparing food labels of products from the U.S. and the U.K. to gain clarity on how the same foods CAN be made/packaged in a toxic-free way given the Government steps in with more strict regulations. If food in the United States is sick filled with GMO’s, chemicals, additives, artificial ingredients, and/or carcinogens then it would make sense that Americans are going to continue to be sick.
Using banned ingredients that other countries have determined unsafe for human consumption has become a pandemic in this country. The U.S. food corporations are unnecessarily feeding Americans chemicals while leaving out almost all toxic ingredients overseas. The point is the food industry has already formulated safer, better products, but they are voluntarily only selling inferior versions of these products here in America.
Some of the key American brands that are participating in this deception are McDonald’s, Pringles (owned by Kellogg’s), Pizza Hut and Quaker (owned by Pepsi), Betty Crocker (owned by General Mills), and Starburst (owned by M&M/Mars). In the examples below, red text indicates potentially harmful ingredients and/or ingredients likely to contain GMOs.
The United States version of Betty Crocker Red Velvet cake not only has artificial colors linked to hyperactivity in children, food cravings, and obesity, but it also has partially hydrogenated oils (a.k.a. trans fat). Trans fat has been shown to be deadly even in small amounts. “Previous trials have linked even a 40-calorie-per-day increase in trans fat intake to a 23% higher risk of heart disease.”
Fast Food giants like McDonald’s and Pizza Hut are just as guilty as General Mills’ Betty Crocker. Look closely at the ingredients in McDonald’s french fries above. French fries in the U.K. version are just potatoes, vegetable oil, a little sugar and salt? How can McDonald’s make french fries with such an uncomplicated list of ingredients all over Europe, but not in the U.S.? Why do McDonald’s french fries in the U.S. have to have TBHQ, trans fat and “anti-foaming” agents? The anti-foaming agent, dimethylpolysiloxane, is a type of silicone used in caulks and sealants and as a filler for breast implants. It’s also the key ingredient in silly putty. Thanks to the FDA for allowing companies to put toxins in our french fries.
Pizza Hut does a huge disservice to Americans by using Azodicarbonamide in their garlic cheese bread. This ingredient is banned as a food additive in the U.K., Europe, and Australia, and if you get caught using it in Singapore you can get up to 15 years in prison and be fined $450,000. The U.K. has recognized this ingredient as a potential cause of asthma if inhaled, and advises against its use in people who have sensitivity to food dye allergies and other common allergies in food, because azodicarbonamide can exacerbate the symptoms. However, Pizza Hut and many other fast food chains like Subway and Starbucks use this ingredient in their U.S. bread products.
Natural and artificial flavors and hidden MSG (in the form of autolyzed yeast extract, in this case) are commonly found throughout products in America but not elsewhere. Junk food companies intentionally add this combination of ingredients to create sensory overload by exciting a person’s brain cells to remember the food they are eating and make less nutritious ingredients taste better.
The food industry has not completely eliminated these same tricks abroad, but when the U.K. version of garlic cheese bread is broken down, the ingredients look pretty basic. Many of the ingredients people would be able to use at home to make garlic bread. TBHQ is a preservative derived from petroleum and used in perfumes, resins, varnishes and oil field chemicals. Laboratory studies have linked TBHQ to stomach tumors. This preservative is also used by Chick-Fil-A in their famous chicken sandwiches.
The U.S. version of Pringles has MSG added twice! Once in its known name and again in a hidden source, called “yeast extract.” This begs the question “Why are the American people so addicted to processed food?” The food industry has designed it that way on purpose to line their pockets with profits, at the expense of health.
There’s only one difference in Rice Krispies between the U.S. and U.K. version – but it’s a big difference. It’s one ingredient that is banned virtually in every other country, except here in the United States. That ingredient is called BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) or BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) and is a very common preservative used rampantly throughout packaged food in the U.S.
Test studies published by the IPCS (International Program for Chemical Safety) “show tissue inflammation, enlargement, and/or growths in 100%, and cancer in 35% of [animal] subjects” as reported in this article. Ideally, products marketed toward children would have stricter FDA regulations. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
In regards to targeting children, food companies have found a way to naturally color candy all over Europe, but candy here in the U.S. is still full of artificial substances made from petroleum and GMO sugar. Looking at the ingredients in Starburst Fruit Chews provides a great example.
One very cautionary set of ingredients that are included in almost all of the American products but not the U.K. products are GMO’s, in the form of either corn or soy.
There have been no long term human studies on GMOs and preliminary studies on animals show horrific consequences. For instance, a study showed GMOs caused toxic and allergic reactions, sick, sterile, and dead livestock, and damage to virtually every organ studied in lab animals. Another study revealed that female rats fed GMO soy for 15 months showed significant health issues in their uterus and reproductive cycle, compared to rats fed organic soy or those raised without soy. A 2009 French Study concluded that Glyphosate (used on GMO soy) can kill the cells in the outer layer of the human placenta, the organ that connects the mother to her fetus, providing nutrients and oxygen and emptying waste products. A Russian study conducted on hamsters that were fed GMO soy diets for two years over three generations found that by the third generation, most of the hamsters lost the ability to have babies, showed slower growth, and suffered a higher mortality rate.
This research was very telling considering that not only have food companies taken out all sorts of hazardous chemical ingredients abroad – but they also have willingly reformulated their products without GMOs. Food corporations in the U.S. claim reformulating their products to remove harmful ingredients or changing labels would be too expensive – but they’ve already done just that in Europe and in many other countries.
Toxins in Our Environment Findings
Dr. Michael Siegal of Boston University and David Jernigan of Johns Hopkins University conducted a NIH funded study to find out the effects of Alcohol Advertising on underaged drinking. NIH funding’s goal
Conclusion
To sum up, there are two sides of research in the United States in regards to toxic chemicals in our foods and products. The first side consists of scientists who are trying to conduct research to improve and protect the health of Americans. The second side consists of scientists who have ‘undisclosed conflicts of interest’ and are publishing studies to create scientific doubt leaving the American people unsure as to which research is the actual truth. Ideally, at this point the U.S. government would step in to regulate the industries, but as seen with the effects of Alcohol Advertising on underaged drinking study, the United States government can be bought. This leaves the American people to navigate through thousands of chemicals, dyes and additives entirely on their own to determine safety for themselves and their families.
References
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- https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-healthcare-spending/u-s-healthcare-spending-to-climb-5-3-percent-in-2018-agency-idUSKCN1FY2ZD
- Myers, J. P., vom Saal, F. S., Akingbemi, B. T., Arizono, K., Belcher, S., Colborn, T., … Zoeller, R. T. (2009). Why Public Health Agencies Cannot Depend on Good Laboratory Practices as a Criterion for Selecting Data: The Case of Bisphenol A. Environmental Health Perspectives, 117(3), 309–315. http://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.0800173 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2661896/
- Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2014 Dec;398(1-2):101-13. doi: 10.1016/j.mce.2014.09.028. Epub 2014 Oct 7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25304273
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- https://www.statnews.com/2018/04/02/nih-rejected-alcohol-advertising-study/
Obesity: The Public Health Challenges It Presents
With all the rising public health challenges there always seems to be one lurking in the background, and we all know it as obesity. The prevalence of obesity is projected at a steady incline, its rates increasing year after year. In fact, data shows that nearly forty percent of American adults were obese in 2015-16; up almost six percent from the prior years of 2007-08. This is a dangerous public health threat, especially since it is in correlation with other chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Not to mention obesity has been linked to eighteen percent of deaths in Americans ages 40-85 (Blumenthal, 2018).
Unfortunately, the future holds “foreboding” news when it comes to determining the prevalence of obesity (Basset, 2004). Not only are we seeing rising rates in obesity, but also in those who are overweight. Now, almost two-thirds of Americans are either obese or overweight! There is little question as to how people are becoming obese; the science is mostly clear on that. However, the question still remains, why and how are these obesity rates rising in such a hasty manner? Many contributing factors include the technology we possess, a lesser need for everyday exertion leading to sedentary life, eating improper foods, and failing to decrease intake. As the presence of this health issue has doubled over the past two decades, finding an intervention has never been more important (Basset, 2004). This urgency to find prevention measures is greatly warranted considering the damage to one’s own personal health, not to mention the possibility of carrying over unhealthy habits to the next generation.
A well-known solution to this problem is dieting, but how well does that actually work? According to Traci Mann, UCLA associate professor of psychology, “You can initially lose 5 to 10 percent of your weight on any number of diets, but then the weight comes back” (Wolpert, 2007). Many diets focus the attention of the dieter to smaller portions or limiting/expelling certain foods. Although, when this diet eventually ends its course, and foods make a re-entrance into the eating plan, or old habits re-emerge, this often leads to gaining back even more weight. Many people look for that “quick fix” in dieting, and if, somehow, they reach their goal, the diet will end rather than become a part of their lifestyle. Quick fixes are rarely attained, and even more rarely maintained. However, if someone was motivated enough to change their lifestyle, that is where the real results are seen. Exercise is also another obvious solution. Although, if one is already obese, exercise may prove to be difficult or even painful. Alternatively, there are other methods of physical activity such as pool exercises that are easier on the joints, while providing results. It is a basic science that if you eat more than you expel, then you will gain weight (Blumenthal, 2018). But, when you exercise, nutrients (stored or unstored) may be used in providing energy to your body, thus “burning the calories.” This, being the traditional idea that lifestyle changes in dieting plus exercise are the best way to lose weight and to keep it off.
Eating healthy can be more difficult than some think, especially when thinking about lower income families. More needs to be done in changing the environment to support healthier eating choices. For example, food pricing methods could change, allowing for better quality foods to be purchased for less (Bassett, 2004). Food deserts need to be reduced so that people may have access to affordable foods full of good nutrients. This approach is favorable because it puts less pressure on the individual by allowing easy access to these foods, and gives healthier, but not more expensive alternatives.
Works Cited
- D. Blumenthal and S. Seervai, ‘Rising Obesity in the United States Is a Public Health Crisis,’ To the Point, the Commonwealth Fund, Apr. 24, 2018.
- Stuart Wolpert, “Dieting Does Not Work, UCLA Researchers Report,” Science and Technology, UCLA Newsroom, Apr. 3, 2007.
- Bassett, Mary T and Sarah Perl. “Obesity: the public health challenge of our time” American journal of public health vol. 94,9 (2004): 1477.