Which journalist wrote 'The Jungle,' prompting federal food-safety reforms?

Which journalist wrote 'The Jungle,' prompting federal food-safety reforms?

• A. Upton Sinclair
• B. Lincoln Steffens
• C. Ida Tarbell
• D. Ray Stannard Baker

Answer: (A)

Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle. Published in 1906, his novel exposed unsanitary conditions in the meatpacking industry and the harsh realities faced by workers, and the vivid depiction shocked the public. That outrage helped push Congress to act, leading to federal food-safety reforms like the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act in 1906. Sinclair’s work is a quintessential example of muckraking journalism, using investigative storytelling to spur real-world reform during the Progressive Era. The other journalists—Lincoln Steffens, Ida Tarbell, and Ray Stannard Baker—were influential too, but they tackled different issues: Steffens on urban political corruption, Tarbell on the abuses of the Standard Oil Trust, and Baker on race and related social concerns. The Jungle is the one that directly tied investigative writing to sweeping food-safety legislation.

Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle. Published in 1906, his novel exposed unsanitary conditions in the meatpacking industry and the harsh realities faced by workers, and the vivid depiction shocked the public. That outrage helped push Congress to act, leading to federal food-safety reforms like the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act in 1906. Sinclair’s work is a quintessential example of muckraking journalism, using investigative storytelling to spur real-world reform during the Progressive Era. The other journalists—Lincoln Steffens, Ida Tarbell, and Ray Stannard Baker—were influential too, but they tackled different issues: Steffens on urban political corruption, Tarbell on the abuses of the Standard Oil Trust, and Baker on race and related social concerns. The Jungle is the one that directly tied investigative writing to sweeping food-safety legislation.