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Why Is Upton Sinclair Important To Public Health

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Recommended: Research on the health and safety at work act of 1974

Over the course of the 20th century, many significant changes were conceived and executed by the field of public health. These improvements are no less relevant today, and from the beginning, they have aided us all. However, there is a major achievement which underscores the safety and good health of the historically downtrodden: bettering work conditions for labourers in need of social change. Not only was this movement important for public health, but it gave the exploited working class a voice, allowing the affected public to organise and fight for better conditions themselves. Before any work was done in favour of making labour safer, manual work was a very dangerous job. Working in a factory, especially one where food was being processed, …show more content…

The 1906 book, The Jungle, caused an uproar that completely shifted focus to these issues of these workers and the safety of their conditions. This work should be considered a milestone in itself because of how wide-reaching and accessible it was. It also sparked the need for the government to get involved, which happened almost immediately after Sinclair’s book was published. The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 paved the way for health inspections of both facilities and meat, even though the bar was set extremely low and inspectors were often still disgusted. Both this act and the Meat Inspection Act of 1907 resulted in much higher quality ingredients in the United States. However, it is important to note that the workers were still not truly benefitting at this point; exploitation and abuse in slightly cleaner facilities where one is less likely to lose a hand is still exploitation and …show more content…

The FDA was very impactful for quite a few reasons; first, it was a federal agency which could monitor existing and new products much more effectively, and second, it could help further an educational aspect of public health, instructing the general public on how to safely consume food. Again, this institution is still around today, but it was not until the 1970s that real justice and regulations were provided for manual labourers working in factories. In 1970, the Occupational Safety and Health Act was enacted. It ensures employers had to provide secure work environments free from health hazards were provided to all employees. For some activists who had worked for decades on this issue, this legislation and support was a satisfying conclusion. However, many believe that even after the ‘70s, there’s still work to be

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In Jill Kaufman’s article “Meat Packing Industry,” Kaufman analyses the meat packing crisis and controversy that occurred during the Roosevelt administration in the early 1900’s. In 1906 Author Upton Sinclair released a novel title The Jungle, which sought to critic exploited meat packing workers of that time. While his novel did stir up some commotion, his ultimate goal remained unmet. Americans were appalled at the ways he described the unsanitary methods and procedures of the meat packing industry. This resulted in stricter policies and inspections being put in place; however, whether or not the industry was truly unhygienic and unsanitary remained disputed.

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Unsafe working conditions plagued next to, if not, all factories during industrialization. Thousands of workers grew ill or suffered injuries as a consequence of their labor, and would yield their jobs, surrendering their source of income. Taken in the early 1900s, “Lewis Hine’s picture depicts two children working on a very dangerous machine” (Document 8). The matter that children were allowed to manage these machines is awful enough, ignoring just how dangerous the machines were. In addition to this, the children did not appear to be well supervised, which made it all too easy for a disastrous injury to occur.

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This eventually led to the creation of the federal department of Food and Drug Administration which lays out laws for what is safe for inclusion in the food and medicine consumed by the

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573 Words | 3 Pages

The Progressive era was a time when reformers wanted to improve American life. Among these reformers were investigative journalists called muckrakers, who sought to expose social problems. In 1906, Upton Sinclair wrote a novel that changed America for the better. Sinclair, a muckraker, wanted to expose the evils of the meatpacking industry, especially with respect to working conditions. Sinclair went undercover into the factories to gain first-hand information on the scandals of the meat industry.

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129 Words | 1 Pages

Upton Sinclair’s, The Jungle is a novel, which affected the food industry in 1900’s but also in America today. People have learned over the years the truths about the food industry, revealed through Sinclair’s detailed evidence. Sinclair meant to aim at the public’s heart but instead he shot straight at their stomachs. One would easily be convinced to never again buy or eat meat again. Fortunately, people have seen changes from 1906 and have been currently trying to repair the Food Industry.

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601 Words | 3 Pages

That same day, The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was created. This act required the makers of prepared food and medicine to host government inspection as well. Overall, these acts have now been a reassurance to the public that meat and other things are in good

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904 Words | 4 Pages

Not only had the act progressed food safety, it had also made one of the most well known organizations to this date, the FDA. With this accomplishment, The Jungle had reached a height unthinkable—it had influenced the political climate of the Progressive

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309 Words | 2 Pages

“The Jungle” was horrifying to many Americans, because they had not been aware of what was going on. After the book was published, many laws were put in place and many changes were made to the working conditions of these factories. In 1906, after the release of “The Jungle”, the Food and Drug Act was passed. The Food and Drug Act created many laws that ensured the food we were consuming was safe to eat. If Upton Sinclair hadn’t fought for what he thought was right, our food may have still been made under unhealthy conditions.

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502 Words | 3 Pages

After people noticed the treacherous working conditions for kids in the U.S. in the late 1800s and early 1900s, many individuals took action to address this dreadful problem. During this time, the working conditions were dreadful. For example, Syble Filter had his finger cut off at the age of 17 when a machine started unexpectedly (Doc. 3). Another example of these terrible conditions is when very young children (boys especially) got caught in the machine or fell into a moving machine (Doc.2).

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1441 Words | 6 Pages

President Theodore Roosevelt read Sinclair’s novel and sought to implement change once he realized that his words were, in fact, all true. He later signed the Food and Drug Act in 1906 that granted the federal government a new ability to monitor the activity within the food industry. The law allowed for regular inspections of plants and analysis of all carcasses and drugs to be marked safe for transport and consumption. This was one of many intrusions that large businesses despised

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665 Words | 3 Pages

Although it may seem that the meat packing industry is still in turmoil because of their unwillingness to make known what foods have Genetically Modified organisms present, the meat packing industry was much worse during the 1900’s because of the unsafe working conditions, and uncleanliness of the food. Body 1: The meat packing industry’s working conditions were much worse in the 1900’s than they are today. In the novel The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, working conditions were horrible for immigrants who were employed in these factories. People in these factories were worked very hard and used up till they could not work anymore. In the novel Jurgis broke his ankle because of the unsafe

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677 Words | 3 Pages

These workers faced dangers everyday and received little pay. At the same time, many other people also had more money and leisure time. Henry George’s book, Progress and Poverty, talks about this divide. “ It was as though an immense wedge were being forced, not underneath society, but through society. Those who are above the point of separation are elevated, but those who are below are crushed down” (Document 3).

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665 Words | 3 Pages

They ussaly worked long houres. Children in the workplace still remained largely unprotected from the mistreatment at the hands of employers and co-workers. even if there parents knEw about the abuse they couldnt do anything about it becouse the needed the money badly. If they didnt do there jobs to the sadisfaction of there bosses they were hit or they were given even less pay. If they angered there co-workers or bossed they were hit.

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1078 Words | 5 Pages

Assignment: Outline how legislation, policies and procedures relating to health, safety and security influence health and social care settings. Go on to describe how those legislation, policies and procedures promote the safety of individuals in your health or social care setting. Policies, procedures and legislation are found in every establishment. They are required to have them in place in order to protect and keep the employers, employees and service users safe. Legislations in an establishment are a groups of laws set by the government that must be followed otherwise an individual will be prosecuted.

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496 Words | 2 Pages

Factory jobs and sweatshops, whose workers were mainly teenage girls, weren’t much safer. They were paid even less for longer hours, some workers staying for over twelve hours. The factories were small and dirty, and the workers had little to no breaks. Some factory owners even locked the workers into the rooms and turned off the elevators. These conditions even caused fires, like the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911.

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