SC - OT - Modern American Food Trends

[JEANNE STAPLETON]

> The natural foods movement ws an oddity in the 50s and 60s, and bypassed much of
> america, look at the advertising of the era. The purchase of canned foods by the
> masses went into eclipse in the country as they cost money and more people put
> up their own foods. The city folk who couldn't garden were the ones that bought
> the canned goods. Advertisers did want the K&B ignorance, it made people brand
> conscious. The real healthfood change for the non fringe people didn't really
> start until the 70s, and we became more aware of the additive problem. The only
> time in the 50s and 60s where unusaual foods integrated into american cuisine
> was in the faddish articles. Fer gosh sakes, pizza was a by the slice rarity
> found pretty much only where there were italian immagrants until the 60s, the
> only really foreigh food[other than fancy rests like Mama Leones or fancy french
> places like Pierre's] were chinese takeout. Until the 60s pretty much the
> immigrants tried to blend in.
> If you look at the basic diet in america today, it is still pretty much the
> betty crocker ken and barbie stuff seasoned with a few old family recipes and
> stuff mom clipped out of womens day. with the predominance of my youth compeers
> going through the standardized home ecchhhonomics classes found in every
> school[well, I wanted to take wood shop...] making bisquik biscuits, pie crusts
> filled with canned filling, steaks and baked potatos and canned peas, is it any
> wonder we had a discussion recently on milk substitutes that are basically a
> palatable white liquid to make mommy feel like she is raising the kid with a
> good diet? There are better sources of dietary calcium and other inerals than
> potato water, almond milk, soy milk and rice milk. Really, if you want the kid
> to get dietrary calcium, soak eggshells in water that has a dollop of lemon
> juice in it, turn it into lemonaid after straining. It doesn't really alter the
> taste of the lemonaid, and provides most of the RDA in 1 8 oz cup.
> margali
> 
Interesting!  I'll have to try the eggshell lemonade thing.  That is a
great idea, and a way to use eggshells instead of just throwing them
out.

Sorry to quote so much, but this puts me in mind of an article I read in
a catering magazine a couple of years ago that had "four generations of
American food" in it--the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s.  I can't recall all of
it (and can't *FIND* it, sadly), but in general it talked about how
casseroles came into being in the 50s (and included the Durkee Green
Bean thing of lore), featured convenience foods in the 60s, talked about
fast foods and natural/health foods in the 70s, and some health trends 
(like oat bran) and the rise of single serving portions and frozen meals
in the 80s.  It was pretty fascinating reading.

The thing I can never understand is how people are raised to be such
bland eaters, and don't instantly jump at the chance to try new things.
I don't know where that comes in.  I can understand that you're not
going to like everything you try, certainly, but refusing to try it
because it's "new" should, IMHO, be left behind in pre-school.

Berengaria


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