Alternate episode title: “Primordial Childhood Cannibalism Fantasy: A History of Graham Crackers.”
The graham cracker: the bread of the s’mores sandwich, a crust for your cheesecake, or something easy on your tummy when you’re sick. But where did this humble wafer come from? Join Nicole and Julia on a journey to 1830s New England to meet Sylvester Graham, a Presbyterian minister obsessed with bran bread, abstinence, and “good digestion” (aka. pooping). We’ll talk about this “anti-pervert pervert” and how trends like farm to table, raw foods, and clean eating aren’t quite so “modern” after all. Also, Julia eats Teddy Grahams for the first time.
Our theme song is “Red Onions” by Louie Zong, off of his album Vegetable Soul: https://louiezong.bandcamp.com/album/vegetable-soul
We’re on Twitter at @girlslunch. Nicole is on Twitter @nicoleh262 and her website is nicolehylton.com. Julia is smarter than all of us and not on social media.
Sources:
“Sweet cracker legacy of Sylvester Graham’s crusade for healthful living,” by Catherine S. Vodrey
Eating History, by Andrew F. Smith (“Chapter 4: Sylvester Graham’s Reforms”)
Sylvester Graham, Lecturer on the Science of Human Life: The Rhetoric of a Dietary Reformer, by Edith Walters Cole
“Time to Grin and Bear It Over a Snack,” by Alice Kahn
