Psychology of Hunger As A Weapon & Emerging Coping Mechanisms
In the Summer of 2019, I traveled to Prague and Berlin with my New York University Food Studies Department to explore post-communism society with food as our lens. Here is my final paper submission for the course. I think it tied together the course’s assigned readings and my neuroscience undergraduate background nicely. The trip was a constant juxtaposition of being immersed in the emergence of a vibrant food scene while reflecting on a not-so-distant past where availability was more monochromatic. I copy/pasted my work onto this platform, so please excuse any formatting issues.
I ‘bolded’ many main takeaways in case you do not what to read in its entirety.
Global Food Cultures: Czech Republic and Germany
Final Paper - 9/1/19
PSYCHOLOGY OF HUNGER AS A WEAPON AND EMERGING COPING STRATEGIES
Abstract
Food can be described as the epitome of an every day experience and existence. It can be used to define one’s individuality, a subscription to a regional entity, as well as an undeniable inherent link to biological function and well-being. It intertwines itself in daily human interaction and serves as a connection to the past, as it offers a sense of security and sensorial satisfaction.
This multi-faceted existence of food becomes even more pronounced, exaggerated and exposed during times of war. During the 20th century, food became a central preoccupation during times of tumultuous European wars. Because of looming shortages, national strategies were put into play to ensure wartime effort success while maintaining order and control in society. Rationing foodstuffs, scientific studies for mechanization of human labor, lines for procuring provisions, home food raids, and established mealtime cafeterias all uprooted a population. These practices resulted in a loss of familiarity, and highlighted uncertainty in a period of rapid transition and improvisation. A utilitarian approach to eating became the new normal as option and individuality now only lived only in the minds of those caught in the war’s midst.
This paper will examine the national food strategies that were used to manipulate to control the public while using the human biological mechanism reaction to hunger as a lens, and explore if in fact new cultural patterns and traditions were molded in the hopes to create stability. To what extent, and in what ways, did limited access to food affect the public’s attitude about food? Were the effects generally negative and detrimental to physical and/or psychological well-being, or could some be positive?
The analysis of using hunger as a weapon and emerging coping strategies revealed that, as might be expected, wartime relationships with food could be quite complex and often detrimental to an individual’s well-being. There is a true biological component when hunger is activated in the human body. The hunger elicits certain behavioral patterns in an attempt to obtain food. Food allotment becomes a distraction from reality— a way to psychologically resist the brutal reality of every day life.
Even though the data is qualitative and hard to quantify, the governing bodies can potentially use these tactics to advantageously manipulate, win trust, obtain reliance, and create diversion of the masses. These manipulations and resulting biological mechanisms elicited an emergence of a pattern of subsequent coping mechanisms. Networks were formed, food was prepared with tradition at home, and the perseverance of the human spirit emerged in a time of utter angst.
Psychology of Hunger
What happens in a person’s brain when the biological pangs of hunger set in? Al-Shawaf defines hunger as an “universal mechanism that evolved to solve a critical adaptive problem (592)” and culminates in eating. Other priorities like “status enhancement, mating opportunities, and pathogen avoidance” are temporarily inhibited. Life is essentially put on hold until one’s hunger is satisfied.
“We have known for centuries that deficiencies of food, water or salt lead to
motivated behaviors that are specific to just the one relevant goal. More recently, we
have learned that each of these specific deficiencies activates, very selectively, a
dedicated homeostatic neuron and that when these dedicated neurons are artificially
activated, motivated behavior is generated, which is, again, completely specific to the one
goal (Lowell)”.
All of a sudden the activity of eating and sustenance becomes an all-encompassing endeavor. The body starts dedicating more and more energy to try to maintain food— from thinking about it, to actively searching, and allocating provisions. Time is at a standstill and all that biologically matters is nourishment which can be the utmost powerful and motivating weapon. If a nation of people is preoccupied with desperation on where their next meal will be met, it can be assumed that they will be less acute to other happenings. During a war time, if so desired, hunger could be used to pose a much needed distraction and diversion.
Cabanac noted that the greater the hunger level, the greater the pleasure accompanied by eating and a more positive evaluation of flavor is interpreted. The human body is keen to survive, and has developed this mechanism to ensure that a person physically continues eating. Sensory mechanisms like olfaction and vision are amplified and are more sensitive to smell and light, respectively as a body’s way to alert its way to a food source (Al-Shawaf 593). The mind actually works to deceive through the senses, again as a way to encourage consumption of calories. It is possible that during times of war when food was scarce and rations were sanctioned, the pleasure centers of the brain were fired and interpreting any sustenance supplied as more top notch than they were in actuality. Hence when procuring food for a population, this is an important detail that can be utilized when food is scarce and not in the best condition. Food could very well be spoiled or rancid, but the sensory mechanisms of hunger could very well override any consumer skepticism. Long lines for food can also trigger an anticipatory circuit releasing many emotions tied with ultimately receiving the food many hours later, which in this situation was the ultimate prize.
Rantapuska adds that trust has a “genetic component affected by hormones that can be traced to distinct brain areas representing fear of deception and anticipation of long-term benefits”, and human emotion of trustworthiness can be possibly triggered once the hunger is satisfied in the short-term. This takes the well-known phrase of “do not bite the hand that feeds you” to a new level. The brain might be engineered to exhibit unrelenting trust to the source of where their food is coming from. This piece of information could possibly parallel war tactics such as long lines for food, and the anticipation elicited by ration cards. If this in fact true, the granted food could project a certain level of trust in the governing bodies on a biological level that could overwrite predisposed ideas on performance. If in fact trust and hunger go hand-in-hand, the manipulation of food access can be used as powerful arsenal of control and psychological approval.
Al-Shawaf further notes that “hunger may lead us to categorize others as either having or not having surplus food that they might be willing to share” and also amplifies food-related memories. All this is meant to be helpful in facilitating ways to successfully acquire food. Alas, this could be partially responsible to why countryside networks were formed to forge food connections. Opportunistic relationships and exchanges became necessary to help ensure survival. Seeking out food sources in the countryside and sidestepping official granted food ways became key.
Food As Control
“The second world war caused the diet of millions to be reduced in volume and deteriorate in quality. Close to 20 million human beings were subjected to semi-starvation leading a rise to “semi-starvation neurosis” (Brozek 27-33).” Whole wheat bread, potatoes, cereals, turnips and cabbage were the major food items. Meat and dairy products were provided only in token amounts (Brozek 28). This was a far cry from the familiar Central and Eastern European diet with an active cheese-making industry, pastures of sheep and cattle and cultured products like kefir, sour cream and ‘tvarog’ (farmers cheese) making an appearance in many traditional dishes (Veruzabova 20). Traditionally, the physical landscape was brimming with freshwater carp and trout in its many freshwater rivers and lakes, and game such as wild boar, pheasant and deer resided in the vast forests and woods (Veruzabova 21). These wildlife residents helped embody the protein-centric European cuisine throughout the centuries. Meat was celebrated and was proudly displayed center plate. To many Europeans, if there is no meat on the plate, tradition has it that it is not even considered a proper meal. The absence of these foods not only elicited a physical hunger, but an emotional longing to foods genuinely enjoyed, engrained and essential to the palate core.
During starvation there was a marked rise of the “neurotic triad”— hychondriasis, depression and hysteria (Brozek 33)”. One possible way to control this potential myriad of emotion is by taking the person’s experience of eating away from their home. Eating at home can be said to be the epitome of comfort, familiarity and surrounded by familial relations. By eliminating these factors that are so primal to the human experience, public eating could now possibly be used as a mechanism of control. Canteens were created to supply much-needed food, but also were put into effect with the very probable intent of instilling societal discipline.
“Employee canteens were not just places where hundreds of industrial workers were
satiated, but also places where they could be easily disciplined. Each worker was subject
to the same meal regulations— they all ate at the same time and consumed the same food,
which they had to finish eating by a strictly determined amount of time. Factory centers
were also a weapon against workers’ protests, for the first thing that the factories did
when strikes or other protests broke out was to close the factory canteens, which were the
only sources of food for many workers during the weekdays. (Kucera 44)”.
Human labor was an indispensable asset to a country’s wartime efforts and a guarantee of an uninterrupted workforce was deemed so valuable that a guaranteed canteen meal was provided as the daily prize and incentive to work. Not going hungry was such a deep, inherent motivator that the meal, no matter what the offering might be, took precedence over much-left-to-be-desired working conditions. The anonymity of the worker was glorified by stripping them the luxury of determining the time they would take to enjoy the food, as well as the elimination of option. Acclimating the body to output without resistance was the goal and eliminating the emotional factor of mealtime was key.
By delegating the activity of eating as a public occurrence, food now became a means of controlling the social classes and one’s status. “While before the war, eating in the comfort of one’s own home was a sign of the middle-class social arrangement… during the war eating hidden away in one’s kitchen became a sign of utter social decline (Kucera 36)’. Access to food in the public arena was the new currency. Middle class kitchens were set up to specifically differentiate the low quality of food made available in the people’s kitchens. Both had specific guidelines to adhere to, and different sets of ingredients were allocated to each as deemed fit. For example, on one day in February 1917, a significant amount of beef stomachs and heads were delivered to middle class kitchens, while the people’s kitchen were left to dine on bags of peas (Kucera 40-41). Some companies were granted more than others to nourish their workers, as deemed their critical contribution to war time efforts.
“Various forms of company meal plans were provided especially by larger businesses that were essential to the wartime economy or had good contacts within the political
administration (Kucera 43-44)”
One type of company that was a prime example of this relationship was the ones that produced heavy machinery. As a result, companies had a loyalty and trusting bond with the government that pledged to feed them. The companies cooperated and complied to wartime efforts because of the trust that emerged from steady suppliance of sustenance. One could not operate without the other and as a result, the bond ran deep. The level of access to production was evident, necessary, and a strategic means of control.
Just like the machines they hoped humans to be, the governing bodies hoped to mechanize mealtime as much as humanly possible. The goal was to optimize the number of calories in exchange for maximum output of labor. The reason for eating was solely for fuel to further the war effort. Food items were thought of as units of calories for survival and food was valued solely for its chemical composition to defeat the enemy (Kucera 12-28). Any lingering pleasure that came with consuming food was close to eradicated. Anything like cravings or favorite items when it came to interpreting food were deemed frivolous. Food was a necessity to keep moving and nothing else.
Scientists such as Hermann von Helmholtz and Rudolf Clausius published thermodynamic studies equating human motions to the same laws of physics applied to inanimate objects (Kucera 15). Science was now deemed the authority of understanding on the bare minimum required to supply to sustain individual social groups. “Just like gasoline or electrical motors, the human motor is also subject to the natural laws on the transfer of energy (Kucera 16)”. This manipulation of food access and dictating the exact amount each person needed was an ultimate means of control. If one were to collapse during work hours, it was interpreted as treason. Isolated scientific studies were deemed supreme and were skewed to benefit the war effort, literally dehumanizing the food experience and all the comfort that came with a meal and helped cover up any shortcomings of the government when it came to the food supply.
Because of these material shortages, there were rising social tensions and regrouping of social hierarchies (Kucera 6).
“The inhabitants of malnourished towns felt cheated by the agricultural countryside;
German-speaking citizens of the monarchy accused their Czech counterparts of
insufficient wartime loyalty; Czechs and other non-German ethnic groups felt oppressed
in every way; many women accused the male-dominated political system of the
monarchy of using them for hard wartime labor but denying them basic civil rights
(Kucera 6)”.
By having the prewar class dynamics in utter dismay, the population was divided and in shambles leaving them less powerful to withstand any governmental control. The general public turned their general frustrations of wartime hunger on each other and blamed their misfortune on their neighbors and own allies weakening their own collective stance. The government was able to stay in power and continue to control the population by using hunger as a weapon.
Qualified workers now found themselves socially below the poor countryside inhabitants and were mortified to visit the countryside and find themselves begging for a bit of flour, eggs, milk or butter at mills and homesteads (Kucera 28). They had to stoop lower than their ego had ever gone before, in an effort to survive the war. “The urban workers’ inability to manifest their social status through appropriate consumption was thus a sign of their radical social descent (Kucera 29)”. The government did very little to stop this practice of countryside procurement perhaps of the factor of humility and self-degradation involved. Hunger coupled with humility could be a strong force of distraction and preoccupation. If their social status did not even allow them the luxury to feed their families, there was a good chance they would not feel empowered to rebel during the war time efforts.
The government also elicited control on the population by eliminating the aspect of a traditional diet. As mentioned, meat was scarce and not deemed necessary. “The greatest danger to the social order of wartime Habsburg Empire was still a hungry human body (Kucera 28)”. And so, a team of scientists was commissioned to disqualify the traditional diet. Mucilage was available and deemed as the preferred source of protein by the scientific authorities. Meat consumption was considered unpatriotic and frequently confiscated during officer raids of homes. The shortage of meat is where the means to control reached desperate measures by entering the personal spaces where families resided. No longer was the war time invasion only on one’s nation’s land, but it now entered one’s personal domain. Meat was a symbol of wealth and continued to be a rare luxury.
Even the staples that were encouraged to be consumed— bread, cereals, milk and vegetables (Heinzelmann 283), were in short supply at times. Consumers had to form a black market of procuring ingredients to supplement their rations, or be forced to subside on as little as four hundred calories. This was the new reality and starvation became a widespread phenomenon, physically weakening those not contributing to the war efforts— especially the children and elderly.
“Many died from starvation or simply froze during the extremely hard winters… in
particular the elderly and the very young… Hunger-related diseases spread as great
speed, among them tuberculosis, hunger oedema, typhoid fever, emaciation and other
effects of deficiency. Undernourishment was normal: a weight deficiency of 30 percent
was considered by no means uncommon, with dizziness and stomach cramps a common
part of everyday life (Heinzelmann 283)”.
Children and elderly were not seemed as beneficial to keep strong and became easy targets when deciding who was to continue to consume and “thrive” in times of shortage. “Waiting in line for basic food rations usually took several hours each day, and the food line quickly became one of the primary arenas where a social collective of humiliated individuals (Kucera 36)”. Ration cards became a means of control on how to distribute the sustenance made available to the hands deemed worthy of keeping alive. Many left empty-handed after hours spent in queues, anticipated being fed. This strategy chose to rationalize whom it was more beneficial to keep alive and was the utmost form of control.
Last but not least, there were created facades of food industry that resulted in the deaths of millions. Agricultural policies emulating factorized meat production in the United States in creating animal husbandry meat collectives and an ever-looming effort for advanced factory technology in the manufacturing of processed foodstuffs like ice cream took precedence to supplying a steady food supply in staple provisions (Geist 298-299). The illusion of advancement and glorification of mechanizing production in a time of food insecurity shed light on the priorities of those in power. Traditional food production methods were a preferred method of the past.
Emerging Coping Mechanisms
The combination of biological hunger mechanisms coupled with hunger manipulation control tactics saw the emergence of coping mechanisms. These included but were not limited to networks, and a dichotomy of perseverance of the human spirit in a time of utilitarian existence. By upholding traditional ways of preparing food, the ailing population still held on to a piece of pleasure and not just viewing food as merely a form of sustenance. Making dumplings the way one’s ancestors did signified a celebration of one’s heritage and a reverence to one’s upbringing. Even if the present moment meant a retraction into one’s shell of existence, the strong hold on tradition rooted in one’s existence was hard to sever completely. Humans are ultimately creators and value expression which could not be completely eradicated in times of hunger and war. As later evidenced by Prague Spring, there is a core of dignity and freedom in the human mind that can not be infinitely suppressed by a totalitarian regime (Santora 2-3).
Emergence from a web of social identity of one’s proximity to food came by striking connections in the countryside.
“The city’s population made unforgettable trips to the countryside for provisions. The
scarcer the supplies in the city, the roller the trains with people leaving for the
countryside. At the station on the train line to the agricultural region, usually several
hundred people got out and quickly dispersed in various directions. There were men,
women and children. All had visible signs of malnutrition and great suffering… During
the potato harvest they dragged remade bags on their backs filled with 50 to 80 kilograms
of potatoes. One could only see the bags and, under them, bent over tiny humans like
wretched shadows (Kucera 28)”.
True to the biological mechanism of establishing networks that would result in food procurement, coupled with a form of resistance of simply resigning to the lowly rations supplied, these pilgrimages were a coping mechanism to feed both families and the human spirit. The anticipation of food paired with taking matters to one’s very own hands, provided a successful coping mechanism that saved many lives.
Cooking at home became a means of preserving the memories of their former lives (Blum 231). Food or lack thereof, remained an every day experience. With a loss of option, individuality and information, preparing a meal was a coping mechanism in itself in the little liberty of expression remaining. Food was seen as a prestigious symbol of social status, so what one had, or was therein missing, on one’s plate symbolized that much more. Thoughts about food lingered and food continued to serve as “material objects and artifacts that as a means established a symbolic and metaphysical bond (Blum 242)”.
Concluding Thoughts
The manipulation of using hunger as a weapon was manifested in the creation of ration cards, queuing for provisions, public cafeterias for different social classes, allocating more food for certain sectors of the population deemed more worthy to the war effort, and touting the scientific physics of human mechanization. These social policies served as both a way to control a population from rioting, create a work force, and form a facade of successful war time efforts in times of extreme food shortages.
It is ultimately difficult to quantify hunger raging throughout an entire population during a time of great dishevelment. One can however uncover parallels of emerging human behaviors. The biological and psychological mechanisms underlying physical hunger served to be a powerful force to reckon with. Not only was it an encompassing epidemic that served to be life-threatening but it brought out qualities of the human mind not limited to humility, perseverance, and expression.
Sources
Al-Shawaf, Laith. “The evolutionary psychology of hunger.” Appetite, vol. 105, no. 1, 2016, pp. 591-595.
Blum, Martin. “Remaking the East German Past: Ostalgie, Identity, and Material Culture.” German Matters in Popular Culture, 2004.
Brozek, Josef. “Psychology of Human Starvation and Nutritional Rehabilitation.” The Scientific Monthly, vol. 70, no. 4, 1950, pp. 270-274.
Cabanac, M, “Physiological role of pleasure.” Science, vol. 173, no. 1, 1971, pp. 1103-1107.
Lowell, Bradford. “New Neuroscience of Homeostasis and Drives for Food, Water, and Salt.” The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 380, 2019, 459-471.
Geist, Edward. “Cooking Bolshevik: Anastas Mikoian and the Making of the Book about Delicious and Healthy Food”. Wiley, 2012.
Heinzelmann, Ursula. “Beyond Bratwurst: A History of Food in Germany”. Reaktion Books Ltd, 2014.
Kucera, Rudolf. “Rationed Life: Science, Everyday Life, and Working-Class Politics in the Bohemian Lands, 1914-1918”. Berghaln Books, 2016.
Rantapuska, Elias et. Al. “Does Short-Term Hunger Increase Trust and Trustworthiness in a High Trust Society?” Frontiers in Psychology, 2017.
Santora, Marc. “50 Years After Prague Spring, Lessons On Freedom and a Broken Spirit”. New York Times, 2018.
Veruzabova, Ivana. “Czech & Slovak Food and Cooking, Introduction through Classic Ingredients.” Anness Publishing, 2012.