RECENT SOCIETY EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES

THOMAS JEFFERSON AND THE HISTORY OF PASTA IN AMERICA DISCUSSED

By Nancy DeSanti

Despite all the naysayers, pasta really is good for us, and we found out why from Diane Welland, a leading nutritionist and food writer. Diane was the featured speaker at our program on April 15, 2018, held at Carmine’s Restaurant.

Here’s why Diane says you should eat more pasta “in moderation.” It’s because new research shows that people who regularly eat pasta - the fundamental component of Italian Mediterranean cuisine - may have better diet quality, greater intake of vitamin and minerals and can better manage blood sugar levels, compared to those who do not eat pasta. She noted that pasta is a very versatile food—it can be dressed up with truffles, or it can be a good way to get kids to eat their vegetables.

Diane, who is of Sicilian and Portuguese heritage, is wellqualified to tell us about this fascinating subject. She is a registered dietitian and freelance writer and consultant specializing in consumer, custom and trade publications related to food, nutrition, food service, health and fitness. A New Jersey native, she worked in both New York City and New Jersey before moving to Northern Virginia to become Manager of Nutrition Services/Media Spokesperson for the National Restaurant Association in Washington, D.C. Three years later, she left that position to pursue her first love-- writing.

Currently, Diane follows culinary, nutrition and lifestyle trends and often translates scientific information into layman's terms, interviewing chefs and food service operators as well as talking to leading scientists. During a very interesting career, she has also worked for the International Caterers Association, for leading newsletters in the field such as the Environmental Nutrition Newsletters. She also teaches nutrition at Northern Virginia Community College and does recipe development and testing. Diane graduated from Rutgers University and has a Masters’ of Science in Nutrition Science from New York University.

Diane traced for us the history of pasta throughout the world. She said we don’t really know who is responsible for inventing pasta, but it likely happened long ago in many cultures. Egyptian tombs show the pasta making process of the ancient times, and Asian countries have had noodles for a long time.

Diane said historians credit Thomas Jefferson for introducing pasta to America. Jefferson had traveled to Europe, especially Paris, and was aware there were “macaroni machines” because he drew an early version of one and wrote some notes about it. In the early days of pasta here, the durum wheat had to be imported from Italy because it was not grown here until World War I when imports from Europe were banned and farmers were forced to grow durum wheat here.

The earliest pasta manufacturer in America dates back to 1848 in Brooklyn, and the company was A. Zerega’s & Sons, Inc. In America, pasta making was a family affair and centered mostly in Brooklyn. There were Neapolitan street vendors selling pasta as early as 1913. Then 5 million Italian immigrants started coming to America in the late 19th and early 20th century. The waves of immigrants from 1880-1924 came from different regions, especially Southern Italy, and they lacked the ingredients they used at home. Pasta was sold loose in bins, weighed and sold, or delivered in horse-drawn carriages. Pasta was made in small batches until the 1930s.

Eventually, Italian-American dishes were created here, such as spaghetti and meatballs, that would never be found in Italy, but which seemed to non-Italians to be Italian dishes. Pasta was still considered ethnic food, and it began to be sold in boxes in 1939.

The popularity of pasta increased during and after the World War II years. Pasta began to break away from its Italian roots and it became popular as an easy way to feed soldiers because it was cheap and filling. “Spaghetti houses” began to crop up in the South before even the fast-food joints.

Over time, though, the small, family owned companies who were a very close-knit community in Brooklyn, sold out or moved away. In the 1980s, there was a consolidation of the industry from family owned companies to corporate ownership. By the 1990s, the small factories had mostly closed or merged with factories making pasta for multiple brands. Nowadays, artisanal pasta companies have become popular and there is even a dictionary of pasta shapes. Also, a lot of athletes eat pasta before running marathons.

You don’t have to be Italian to love pasta, Diane says. It’s one of the most popular foods in America. We learned from Diane that the National Pasta Association has a website (https://pastafits.org) where you can find pasta tips, tricks and information about using pasta in healthy meals as well as dozens of mouth-watering pasta recipes.

As to why pasta is good for us, Diane explained that pasta is a low-sodium and cholesterol-free food with a low glycemic index — foods that keep blood sugar levels in control. She cited a study showing that “pasta eaters have better quality diets than those who don’t eat pasta,” according to Diane. The findings showed that pasta eaters had a greater intake of nutrients and minerals that most people lack in their diets such as folate — that helps the body form red blood cells and reduces the risk of defects during fetal growth; iron — used to carry oxygen in the blood and aids in reducing anemia; magnesium — a mineral used in building bones and releasing energy from muscles; and dietary fiber — which helps reduce blood cholesterol levels and lower risk of heart disease, obesity and Type 2 diabetes. In addition, eating pasta also led to less intake of saturated fat — which can help lower the level of cholesterol in your blood to decrease the risk of heart disease and stroke — and less added sugar — such as sucrose and high fructose corn syrup that contain a whole bunch of calories with no essential nutrients.

“Pasta can be an effective building block for good nutrition, as it serves as a perfect delivery system for fruits, vegetables, lean meats, fish and legumes,” she added. Diane showed us her favorite slide in her presentation, which was pictures of Elvis Presley and Sophia Loren, labeled “The King and Queen.” First it shows Elvis’ recipe for macaroni salad and then it shows Sophia with a forkful of spaghetti and quoted her as saying “Everything you see I owe to spaghetti” and the caption notes that she was the Spaghetti Week Queen in 1955. (See page 18 for a photo of the slide)

Our successful program had 62 attendees, and we had $231 in raffle sales for the $100 gift certificate from Carmine’s. Judging by the favorable comments afterwards, the program was a big success!!