Why Is Upton Sinclair Important To Public Health

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,

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

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