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?

How You Vote Every Week and May Not Realize It

At the end of the film “Food, Inc.”, we are reminded that every time we as consumers buy food at the grocery store, we are essentially voting with our wallet and choosing the way we want the food industry in our county to go. A perfect example of this reality happened to me this past weekend when I went to wholesale store Costco. I was drawn there by the allure of more affordable new tires for my car. While they worked their magic, I had some time on my hands and wandered around the store.

The last time I shopped at Costco was probably in the 90's with my mom, stocking up on Bagel Bites and Chicken Taquitos . Let me tell you, a lot has changed since those days, and I believe that it has everything to do with customer demand.

Every aisle held surprises as I noticed a startling amount of healthy foods: bags of frozen fish fillets, huge jars of almond butter for $5, bags of steel-cut oats, and organic chicken and beef. The samples we tried (always the best part of a Costco trip) included free-range chicken meatballs, fruit smoothies made in a Vitamix blender, and Organic Tuscan Italian dressing (made with sea salt) on vegetables.

This was a far cry from the Whitecastle frozen mini hamburgers I remember being offered on childhood visits to Costco. While the store may still stock the freezers with Bagel Bites, they are also adding a lot of health-conscious selections. At least where this business is concerned, the voice of the people is being heard and catered to. So never underestimate the power of your vote for organic/local produce and free-range/grass-fed/sustainable meats!

And in case you’re wondering if the Costco hot dogs taste better now than in the past, the answer is sadly: not really. But I had to check just in case, because hey, $1.50 with drink included is hard to turn down. I never learn.

The KFC Monstrosity and Cavemen

What. The. Heck. Is. This.

KFC has announced that their new Double Down sandwich which debuted in April, will remain around as long as the demand for it is strong. Originally only intended as a 6-week promotion, this stunning invention features 2 pieces of fried chicken, processed ham and processed cheese. No bun. Just meat. The advertisements market the Double Down as a very "manly" thing to eat.

The sandwich contains 32 grams of saturated fat and KFC has sold 10 million already. This feels to me like a major loss in the battle against obesity in America. Furthermore, I can’t help but wonder why the idea of masculinity has to be equated with foolish dietary choices, particularly menu items that are heavy on meat and fat and light on anything nourishing. Carls Jr. generally has the corner on this market, with their ads encouraging a mentality of "I’m a manly man who hangs out with my cool guy buddies and together we stuff our arteries with the biggest, fattiest burgers in town".

I hope the future holds a different kind of advertising industry. I want to see masculine men making healthy dietary choices, taking responsibility for their bodies and health. Spokesman Jared of Subway fame comes closest to this ideal at this time, although he’s not exactly a sex symbol.

The reality of our diet comes down to this fact: a body that is healthy and fit is sexy. A diet of junk food should stop being attractive around the time of high school graduation, like many other stupid choices made by the young. Let's hope that we can evolve beyond the "carnivorous cave man" mentality by making smarter dietary choices so we can curb the tide of diet-related disease and deaths that plagues our country today.