Thursday, September 22, 2011

Which Decade Had the Best Food Trends?

Cupcakes - Popular food trend of the 2000's

While reading M.F.K. Fisher's book How to Eat a Wolf earlier this year, I learned why many recipes from the 1940's used bacon grease instead of oil and butter and canned vegetables and fruit instead of fresh. Everything was influenced by historical forces, especially WWII and government rations on food. This week, I stumbled upon this interesting list of iconic foods for each decade. Some were classics, some we might rather forget, but here is what America's been eating in the past 50 years:

1960s:
Tunnel of Fudge bundt cake
Iceberg lettuce
Swedish meatballs
Salad Bars (This explains why elderly people looooove Sizzler)
Surf and Turf
Tang ("space age" drink)

1970's:
Hummingbird cake (with pineapple, pecans and bananas)
Pasta Primavera
Wacky Cake (no milk or eggs - a favorite of grandmas everywhere)
Watergate Salad (also known as pistachio fluff)

1980's:
Blackened fish (thanks to Chef Prudhomme)
Monkey bread (I will love it forever!)
Chinese Chicken Salad
Mud Pie and Dirt Cake

1990's:
They didn't have a list of dishes here, but new products included:
Boca Burger
Campbell's Cream of Broccoli Soup
Pizza Hut Stuffed Crust Pizza
Snackwell's Cookies
Potato Chips with Olean

2000's
Artisan breads
Purple ketchup
Sustainable fish
Sushi bars
Sliders
Raw foods
Deep fried Twinkies
Cupcakes
Traveling vendors
Farmers markets


So what do you think? Is America improving or getting worse with time? And what will the next decade bring us?

1 comment:

  1. I thought fondu would be in the 1970's. Hmmm....

    I think it's getting better because people are now all about organic and whole eating, going back to agricultural roots. Which I think is great for everyone.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with me!