Significant practical progress has been made in nutrition and agriculture, including widespread food availability, understanding that alcohol contains calories (7 kcal/g), reduction of folate deficiency (preventing spina bifida), iodization of salt, reduction of micronutrient deficiencies, and improved food safety.

“there's very little food shortage — that's a big deal that we know that alcohol contains calories we take that for granted but Wilbur Atwater who's the person who stated that was vilified for it at that time by the temperance movement and um because they wanted to say uh and he himself was a tea Toler by the way that alcohol had no calories excuse me that alcohol had no um nutritional value and he said no it does it is 7 kilo calories per gr and so that's an example folate supplementation which has radically reduced spinabifida — iodized salt — micronutrient deficiencies being maybe not eradicated in this country but radically reduced to among other things to supplementation — greater food safety”