Bloomberg: Economics behind Grandma's cooking

[galliver]

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-10-30/friday-food-post-the-economics-behind-grandma-s-tuna-casseroles

This isn't necessarily to say we should all eat like Grandma used to cook. I think there's a lot of validity to the point that many fresh foods are available or affordable today that didn't used to be, and it's generally pretty clear they are better for us. E.g. frozen or fresh vegetables instead of salty canned ones, fresh meats instead of canned/SPAM. We should definitely take advantage.

But maybe there's something to be said for learning to make the cheaper things palatable, and even fancy. One time, faced with a nearly empty fridge due to a postponed grocery trip, my mom turned a can of salmon, a single egg, a few sad leaves of lettuce, a bit of turnip, some green onions, and a cup or two of rice  into "chirashi sushi" bowls that became everyone's new favorite food.

[Bracken_Joy]

Loved this article. Particularly the discussion of "class"- when gelatin was made available to all, we went a little crazy! It reminds me of the Freakanomics article about how names trickle down through social classes. All pretty fascinating to me.

[Shinplaster]

Great article.  I grew up in the 50's and 60's, and recognize most of the recipes/foods mentioned.  When I was a kid, I thought the height of "classy" lunches was double decker egg salad/minced ham salad sandwiches.  On white bread of course.  My Mom used to cut the crusts off bread, spread it with Cheez Whiz, line up some olives, roll it, and then slice them into finger sandwiches.  Yes, it's gross, but I still remember those fondly.

[Sibley]

I really liked that article. It's true too, and I'm looking forward to throwing some of that into certain people's faces next time they're rude about what grandma makes.

[Gerard]

Neat stuff.

I think it misses at least one sociology thing, though: usually, grandma and great-grandma were the first generations to grow up in the city or suburbs. Before that, you didn't need to be a brilliant cook because you lived on a farm, and your ingredients were fuckin' awesome. What you needed to be brilliant at was *preserving* food, and that need/skill disappeared when people moved to supermarketed cities.