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May 17, 2016 6:24 AM Subscribe
Surprised oranges are on the decline. So many stories from my parents and grandparents about how they could only get oranges at Christmastime back in the day. It's a story I now tell to my kids about tangerines. (Get off my lawn!)
posted by Brodiggitty at 6:41 AM on May 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Brodiggitty at 6:41 AM on May 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
Not surprising to see the decline of whole milk (or as I call it after 30+ years of skim: milk pudding), but wow.
posted by Rock Steady at 6:44 AM on May 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Rock Steady at 6:44 AM on May 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
In 1970, people consumed more than twice as much beef than chicken, but by 1987 it surpassed pork, and in 2004 moved passed beef. Chicken has been on top since.
I'm sure this says more about the state of people's finances than it does about dietary decisions.
posted by Literaryhero at 6:49 AM on May 17, 2016 [6 favorites]
I'm sure this says more about the state of people's finances than it does about dietary decisions.
posted by Literaryhero at 6:49 AM on May 17, 2016 [6 favorites]
I don't think it was just finances that pushed beef down. Do you remember back in the 80s/90s when they started advertising pork as "The Other White Meat"? Even though pork is naturally a red meat? There was definitely a pushback against red meat.
posted by jillithd at 6:54 AM on May 17, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by jillithd at 6:54 AM on May 17, 2016 [6 favorites]
Biggest surprise is the massive rise in cooking oil use. Any explanations? Maybe it is much cheaper now, and people buy huge containers and it sits in their cupboards forever (like me)?
posted by miyabo at 6:56 AM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by miyabo at 6:56 AM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
Am I the only one who wanted this by calories instead of volume?
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 6:56 AM on May 17, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 6:56 AM on May 17, 2016 [5 favorites]
I know it's not a seed, but it would almost be more useful to put potatoes in the grain category due to its culinary and nutritional role.
Also, it helps to think a lot about the role of these items as ingredients. I imagine a lot of tomato consumption is in sauce form, so it would be tied in with wheat use.
The ascendancy of dark greens isn't surprising. I've seen spinach go from universally vilified in the 70's and 80's to a ubiquitous "gourmet" ingredient from the late 90's on.
posted by sourwookie at 6:57 AM on May 17, 2016
Also, it helps to think a lot about the role of these items as ingredients. I imagine a lot of tomato consumption is in sauce form, so it would be tied in with wheat use.
The ascendancy of dark greens isn't surprising. I've seen spinach go from universally vilified in the 70's and 80's to a ubiquitous "gourmet" ingredient from the late 90's on.
posted by sourwookie at 6:57 AM on May 17, 2016
miyabo: "Biggest surprise is the massive rise in cooking oil use. Any explanations?"
There is a note in the text that explains."You might notice the sudden rate of increase for cooking oil starting in 2000, but this isn’t from people growing overly fond of frying in a year. Instead, this was from a change in reporting to the Census Bureau."
posted by Rock Steady at 6:58 AM on May 17, 2016 [13 favorites]
There is a note in the text that explains."You might notice the sudden rate of increase for cooking oil starting in 2000, but this isn’t from people growing overly fond of frying in a year. Instead, this was from a change in reporting to the Census Bureau."
posted by Rock Steady at 6:58 AM on May 17, 2016 [13 favorites]
I can't be the only person surprised at how hard it was for them to visually demonstrate what im pretty certain have been massive shifts in eating patterns? I could be making the very false assumption that my own habits and those of my friends are typical, but it really feels like these images dont show as big a shift as i would have expected, and i can't help but think it might have to do with the way they are measuring/categorizing what we eat. Would have liked more information about vegetables beyond tomatoes/onions/carrots/head lettuce/dark green. even one more category for catch all/other would have been interesting.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 7:03 AM on May 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 7:03 AM on May 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
I also didn’t expect dark greens, which includes vegetables like spinach and broccoli, to rise so much from barely anything. Did people really consume basically no dark green vegetables pre-1980s?
Heh, this flags the author's age pretty clearly. No, we didn't really eat dark green vegetables as a staple, only as a relatively small side portion, usually begrudgingly.
posted by desuetude at 7:07 AM on May 17, 2016 [8 favorites]
Heh, this flags the author's age pretty clearly. No, we didn't really eat dark green vegetables as a staple, only as a relatively small side portion, usually begrudgingly.
posted by desuetude at 7:07 AM on May 17, 2016 [8 favorites]
though i guess some of the short-term spikes are almost as interesting as the long term trends - the shortening spike around 2000 has to be due to the popularity of the Atkins diet (although wikipedia tells me that peaked a few years later in 2003/4).
Other than that though all of the short term fluctuations seem to be concentrated in fruits and vegetables, which makes me wonder if it isnt tied to greater price sensitivity for those products (either because consumers see them as more easily interchangeable - taking apples instead of organges when the price is better before switching between beef/chicken for the same reason) or really because they are considered less essential and usage drops when prices rise.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 7:07 AM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
Other than that though all of the short term fluctuations seem to be concentrated in fruits and vegetables, which makes me wonder if it isnt tied to greater price sensitivity for those products (either because consumers see them as more easily interchangeable - taking apples instead of organges when the price is better before switching between beef/chicken for the same reason) or really because they are considered less essential and usage drops when prices rise.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 7:07 AM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'm sure this says more about the state of people's finances than it does about dietary decisions.
Chicken started skyrocketing during the early 80s, when doctors and public health advocates started connecting the dots about saturated fat and heart health. I really think that's more powerful than finances. Also, boneless chicken and chicken products (like nuggets) happened.
Biggest surprise is the massive rise in cooking oil use. Any explanations?
Hm. Apart from the counting change, I wonder if there isn't a cultural factor. One big shift in American food history is what people call the "Mediterraneanization" of food starting in the 80s - a lot more tomatoes, pastas, fresh herbs/pestos, fresh veggies, etc. In short, more sauteeing. I also recall the rise of homemade stir-fries (not just restaurant stir-fry) in white middle-class homes happened during my lifetime. My grandmother, for example, didn't use a lot of cooking oil because she mostly cooked roasts, pork chops, potatoes, and boiled vegetables. My mom, on the other hand, depended on olive oil for the things we liked to eat.
it really feels like these images dont show as big a shift as i would have expected
I agree. I find that very interesting. It would have been good to see sweets and sugars. But it's clear that the categories that make up the vast bulk of our diet haven't changed much. I would also like to see it sliced horizontally to show relative proportions of each of these to one another, not just up and down in their own categories. Like, how much meat in a typical day vs. how much vegetable, grain, etc.
posted by Miko at 7:12 AM on May 17, 2016 [7 favorites]
Chicken started skyrocketing during the early 80s, when doctors and public health advocates started connecting the dots about saturated fat and heart health. I really think that's more powerful than finances. Also, boneless chicken and chicken products (like nuggets) happened.
Biggest surprise is the massive rise in cooking oil use. Any explanations?
Hm. Apart from the counting change, I wonder if there isn't a cultural factor. One big shift in American food history is what people call the "Mediterraneanization" of food starting in the 80s - a lot more tomatoes, pastas, fresh herbs/pestos, fresh veggies, etc. In short, more sauteeing. I also recall the rise of homemade stir-fries (not just restaurant stir-fry) in white middle-class homes happened during my lifetime. My grandmother, for example, didn't use a lot of cooking oil because she mostly cooked roasts, pork chops, potatoes, and boiled vegetables. My mom, on the other hand, depended on olive oil for the things we liked to eat.
it really feels like these images dont show as big a shift as i would have expected
I agree. I find that very interesting. It would have been good to see sweets and sugars. But it's clear that the categories that make up the vast bulk of our diet haven't changed much. I would also like to see it sliced horizontally to show relative proportions of each of these to one another, not just up and down in their own categories. Like, how much meat in a typical day vs. how much vegetable, grain, etc.
posted by Miko at 7:12 AM on May 17, 2016 [7 favorites]
This well illustrates one of those "never would have guessed" factoids that amazed me a few years back - namely that over the pond you eat virtually no tasty, tasty lamb. You're missing out!
posted by protorp at 7:15 AM on May 17, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by protorp at 7:15 AM on May 17, 2016 [7 favorites]
Not very many people eating avocados, I guess I am okay with this if it means there are more left for me.
posted by instead of three wishes at 7:20 AM on May 17, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by instead of three wishes at 7:20 AM on May 17, 2016 [8 favorites]
I found something that might be worth sharing here. I was cleaning out a drawer a few weeks ago and found:
posted by Fizz at 7:23 AM on May 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
'The Food Guide Slide' from the Dairy Bureau of Canada. [Front Side] [Back Side]It has the various recommended serving sizes and a little slide that you would pull out as you worked your way through your day ticking off the different sections of the food group. The one slide is missing but reading what some of the recommended portion sizes are, its quite fascinating.
Adapted from Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating, Health Canada, 1992. With Permission of the Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada, 1998.
posted by Fizz at 7:23 AM on May 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
It's a sort of odd slice of the data, looking at specific things like "Watermelon" instead of more general categories like "sugar" and "fat". This chart shows sugar consumption growing by about 30% from 1970 to 2005, but you see nothing like that trend in these charts. I guess this is a visualization of specific items, rather than nutrition in general.
This Time Magazine article gets more at the nutrition statistics. The presentation is not very good though.
Also I'm nervous as hell criticizing Nathan Yau's visualization skills, but the swapping of order is really distracting in the animation. It's statistical noise that lettuce is 0.15 and carrots are 0.14 one year, then swap to 0.14 and 0.15 the next. Why draw so much attention to it?
posted by Nelson at 7:26 AM on May 17, 2016 [4 favorites]
This Time Magazine article gets more at the nutrition statistics. The presentation is not very good though.
Also I'm nervous as hell criticizing Nathan Yau's visualization skills, but the swapping of order is really distracting in the animation. It's statistical noise that lettuce is 0.15 and carrots are 0.14 one year, then swap to 0.14 and 0.15 the next. Why draw so much attention to it?
posted by Nelson at 7:26 AM on May 17, 2016 [4 favorites]
Not very many people eating avocados
Oh man. We eat as many avocados as the budget will allow. Thankfully, these days that means about 50% more than a couple of years ago. We visited some family in Southern California in 2012 and marveled at the cheap and plentiful avocados that would have cost $1.50 apiece back home. Today they're regularly $1, sometimes less. toddlerozzy went through a phase where she only wanted to eat avocados; we must have eaten almost a dozen that week. It was awesome.
We also eat a shitload more pork than pictured here, mostly due to the relatively cheap pork tenderloins from Costco.
posted by uncleozzy at 7:32 AM on May 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
Oh man. We eat as many avocados as the budget will allow. Thankfully, these days that means about 50% more than a couple of years ago. We visited some family in Southern California in 2012 and marveled at the cheap and plentiful avocados that would have cost $1.50 apiece back home. Today they're regularly $1, sometimes less. toddlerozzy went through a phase where she only wanted to eat avocados; we must have eaten almost a dozen that week. It was awesome.
We also eat a shitload more pork than pictured here, mostly due to the relatively cheap pork tenderloins from Costco.
posted by uncleozzy at 7:32 AM on May 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
Not surprising to see the decline of whole milk (or as I call it after 30+ years of skim: milk pudding), but wow.
Note that low-fat and skim milk only replaced about a third of the decrease in whole. People are drinking way less milk overall!
I could be making the very false assumption that my own habits and those of my friends are typical, but it really feels like these images dont show as big a shift as i would have expected
This makes sense mathematically: if everyone makes a big shift, but those shifts aren't all in exactly the same direction (even if they are kind of aligned), then the aggregate will show a smaller shift.
(On the other hand, everyone could be absolutely constant in their preferences and the aggregate could still shift, since people die and are replaced by new people. So the relationship between individual shifts and societal shifts is complicated.)
posted by aws17576 at 7:41 AM on May 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
Note that low-fat and skim milk only replaced about a third of the decrease in whole. People are drinking way less milk overall!
I could be making the very false assumption that my own habits and those of my friends are typical, but it really feels like these images dont show as big a shift as i would have expected
This makes sense mathematically: if everyone makes a big shift, but those shifts aren't all in exactly the same direction (even if they are kind of aligned), then the aggregate will show a smaller shift.
(On the other hand, everyone could be absolutely constant in their preferences and the aggregate could still shift, since people die and are replaced by new people. So the relationship between individual shifts and societal shifts is complicated.)
posted by aws17576 at 7:41 AM on May 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
There is a fantastic BBC series called Back in Time for Dinner. The premise is that one family cooks and lives like an average family from decades past, aided by entries from a national food survey. So for most of the fifties, the family cooks in a kitchen with no fridge and with rationed ingredients.
I'd love to see something like that for American audiences.
posted by infinitewindow at 7:48 AM on May 17, 2016 [13 favorites]
I'd love to see something like that for American audiences.
posted by infinitewindow at 7:48 AM on May 17, 2016 [13 favorites]
I don't know if avocados have dropped in price over the past couple of years, or if it due to me changing stores (all our cities Krogers shut down nearly 2 years ago). I used to get them at $1+, but now I pay .39 to .69 each at Aldis.
posted by sourwookie at 7:51 AM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by sourwookie at 7:51 AM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
Bring back lard!
posted by Melismata at 7:53 AM on May 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 7:53 AM on May 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
I could be making the very false assumption that my own habits and those of my friends are typical, but it really feels like these images dont show as big a shift as i would have expected.
Some of this, I have to believe, very much depends upon where you live. When I have visited Mrs. slkinsey's family in central Kansas we've often driven long distances to various regional attractions, and frequently will make a point of stopping in at whatever the local restaurant of note may be (e.g., Carriage Crossing in Yoder, KS). As an east coast big city person, it has been a bit surprising how many of these places served food that seemed to have some out of a 1970s time-warp. Places that billed themselves as farm restaurants served minute sides of "vegetable medley" that had clearly come out of a can (not home canned), "famous" ham steaks were clearly cut from a boneless reconstituted "ham" and not a real ham, etc. I'm sure that dietary habits in these vast swaths of the country have changed in the last 50 years, but nowhere near how it is has changed in the major metropolitan regions. In aggregate we are hardly a nation of people eating Berkshire pork chops with sauteed kale and wild mushrooms.
posted by slkinsey at 8:09 AM on May 17, 2016 [6 favorites]
Some of this, I have to believe, very much depends upon where you live. When I have visited Mrs. slkinsey's family in central Kansas we've often driven long distances to various regional attractions, and frequently will make a point of stopping in at whatever the local restaurant of note may be (e.g., Carriage Crossing in Yoder, KS). As an east coast big city person, it has been a bit surprising how many of these places served food that seemed to have some out of a 1970s time-warp. Places that billed themselves as farm restaurants served minute sides of "vegetable medley" that had clearly come out of a can (not home canned), "famous" ham steaks were clearly cut from a boneless reconstituted "ham" and not a real ham, etc. I'm sure that dietary habits in these vast swaths of the country have changed in the last 50 years, but nowhere near how it is has changed in the major metropolitan regions. In aggregate we are hardly a nation of people eating Berkshire pork chops with sauteed kale and wild mushrooms.
posted by slkinsey at 8:09 AM on May 17, 2016 [6 favorites]
For a really dramatic rise, yogurt needed to be included in this.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 8:23 AM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by TWinbrook8 at 8:23 AM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
I know it's not a seed, but it would almost be more useful to put potatoes in the grain category due to its culinary and nutritional role.
Well, hell, technically tomatoes are a fruit. But they're categorized with the vegetables. I suspect that this chart is incorporating the laymans' perspective on things as well.
Or, in the words of one of my colleagues: "Knowledge is knowing that tomatoes are fruit. Wisdom is knowing you nevertheless shouldn't put tomatoes into a fruit salad."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:36 AM on May 17, 2016 [6 favorites]
Well, hell, technically tomatoes are a fruit. But they're categorized with the vegetables. I suspect that this chart is incorporating the laymans' perspective on things as well.
Or, in the words of one of my colleagues: "Knowledge is knowing that tomatoes are fruit. Wisdom is knowing you nevertheless shouldn't put tomatoes into a fruit salad."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:36 AM on May 17, 2016 [6 favorites]
Someone needs to adapt this infographic for Metafilter's grade school play and cast me as Quinoa.
posted by roger ackroyd at 8:39 AM on May 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by roger ackroyd at 8:39 AM on May 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
Personally, I can demarcate when my food consumption went from mostly processed/from boxes and tin cans to fresh foods, and that would be 1989. Before then I was eating food made at home (mostly out of a box or can as my aunt felt like making or we got from the government - yes, I know from government cheese and powdered milk UGH), and institutional foods at school from 1st grade until I got out of the dorms and moved into my own place at uni in 1989.
There wasn't much milk or meat in my diet until then, either. Milk, eggs, and meat were all too expensive for my aunt to buy on her piddly pay, and the same for me at uni on my meal ticket. We had a a LOT of beans while I was growing up. Today I'm not too keen on beans.
Hell, I still remember my first steak when my boyfriend at the time took me to a restaurant in Chicago for my 20th birthday. It was a 6 oz. sirloin, well done, because I didn't know from a decently seared rare steak.
Now, I eat mostly vegetables and eggs, with a smidgen of beef, chicken and salmon. I do have cheese every day, and the type varies thanks to the awesome grocery store that has 4 aisles of cheese near where I live. I do buy avocados, though. A slathering of that with an egg on toast is a very nice breakfast.
posted by droplet at 8:45 AM on May 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
There wasn't much milk or meat in my diet until then, either. Milk, eggs, and meat were all too expensive for my aunt to buy on her piddly pay, and the same for me at uni on my meal ticket. We had a a LOT of beans while I was growing up. Today I'm not too keen on beans.
Hell, I still remember my first steak when my boyfriend at the time took me to a restaurant in Chicago for my 20th birthday. It was a 6 oz. sirloin, well done, because I didn't know from a decently seared rare steak.
Now, I eat mostly vegetables and eggs, with a smidgen of beef, chicken and salmon. I do have cheese every day, and the type varies thanks to the awesome grocery store that has 4 aisles of cheese near where I live. I do buy avocados, though. A slathering of that with an egg on toast is a very nice breakfast.
posted by droplet at 8:45 AM on May 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
Am I the only one who wanted this by calories instead of volume?
I am on a one-man mission (at least in my social circles) to get my fellow Americans to measure by weight instead of volume, in all cooking and not just baking. Pounds and ounces if we must, but secretly I'm really plumping for grams and the metric system.
posted by andrewesque at 8:58 AM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
I am on a one-man mission (at least in my social circles) to get my fellow Americans to measure by weight instead of volume, in all cooking and not just baking. Pounds and ounces if we must, but secretly I'm really plumping for grams and the metric system.
posted by andrewesque at 8:58 AM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
Bring back lard!
A childhood friend of mine came from Wisconsin farm folk, and he used to describe his grandmother's cooking thusly:
"Pancakes? LARD! Potatoes? LARD! Orange juice? LARD! It was kinda like a milkshake."
We...never could quite be certain he was joking.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 9:05 AM on May 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
A childhood friend of mine came from Wisconsin farm folk, and he used to describe his grandmother's cooking thusly:
"Pancakes? LARD! Potatoes? LARD! Orange juice? LARD! It was kinda like a milkshake."
We...never could quite be certain he was joking.
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 9:05 AM on May 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
a nice refreshing glass of lardmonade!
posted by poffin boffin at 9:12 AM on May 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 9:12 AM on May 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
Or, in the words of one of my colleagues: "Knowledge is knowing that tomatoes are fruit. Wisdom is knowing you nevertheless shouldn't put tomatoes into a fruit salad."
...on the contrary, tomatoes are excellent in som tam phonlamai.
posted by praemunire at 9:29 AM on May 17, 2016
...on the contrary, tomatoes are excellent in som tam phonlamai.
posted by praemunire at 9:29 AM on May 17, 2016
...on the contrary, tomatoes are excellent in som tam phonlamai.
Yeah but it also has carrots and shrimp in it so I question its categorization as a "fruit salad".
....sounds good, though.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:44 AM on May 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
Yeah but it also has carrots and shrimp in it so I question its categorization as a "fruit salad".
....sounds good, though.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:44 AM on May 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
For a really dramatic rise, yogurt needed to be included in this.
And kiwis (or "Chinese gooseberries"). I think I ate my first kiwifruit around 1983 or '84. Then, suddenly, they were a thing. Relatedly, papayas, which I recall being super popular in the northeast US when I was a child in the '70s (my dad was a fiend for papaya juice), then not so much.
I was struck by the spike in oats around 1987-88. I wonder if that has to do with an increased popularity of foods like granola, granola bars, and muesli?
posted by octobersurprise at 9:55 AM on May 17, 2016
And kiwis (or "Chinese gooseberries"). I think I ate my first kiwifruit around 1983 or '84. Then, suddenly, they were a thing. Relatedly, papayas, which I recall being super popular in the northeast US when I was a child in the '70s (my dad was a fiend for papaya juice), then not so much.
I was struck by the spike in oats around 1987-88. I wonder if that has to do with an increased popularity of foods like granola, granola bars, and muesli?
posted by octobersurprise at 9:55 AM on May 17, 2016
I was struck by the spike in oats around 1987-88. I wonder if that has to do with an increased popularity of foods like granola, granola bars, and muesli?
That's peak Oat Bran Touted as Miracle High Cholesterol Cure
posted by asockpuppet at 10:04 AM on May 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
That's peak Oat Bran Touted as Miracle High Cholesterol Cure
posted by asockpuppet at 10:04 AM on May 17, 2016 [3 favorites]
I'm sure this says more about the state of people's finances than it does about dietary decisions.
Yes, but in a different way than you think. Chicken used to be a lot more expensive. In 1970 chicken and beef were about the same price, now beef is about 2x the price of chicken.
(And that was about the same time people started worrying about health effects of eating too much red meat.)
posted by aspo at 10:07 AM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
Yes, but in a different way than you think. Chicken used to be a lot more expensive. In 1970 chicken and beef were about the same price, now beef is about 2x the price of chicken.
(And that was about the same time people started worrying about health effects of eating too much red meat.)
posted by aspo at 10:07 AM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
There is a fantastic BBC series called Back in Time for Dinner. The premise is that one family cooks and lives like an average family from decades past, aided by entries from a national food survey. So for most of the fifties, the family cooks in a kitchen with no fridge and with rationed ingredients.
I'd love to see something like that for American audiences.
James Lileks: The Gallery of Regrettable Food: THE SERIES.
posted by Guy Smiley at 10:19 AM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'd love to see something like that for American audiences.
James Lileks: The Gallery of Regrettable Food: THE SERIES.
posted by Guy Smiley at 10:19 AM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
Am I the only one who wanted this by calories instead of volume?
I can't hack the graphic to show calories right now, but if you look just at the top couple -- that 4 ounces of flour has around 400 calories, and that 45 grams of cooking oil has around 400 calories, so those two alone are a huge part of our caloric intake.
Cheese is probably the next most significant since our intake has roughly doubled from 100 calories to 200.
There's no real net change in meat, vegetables, or fruit, just substitutions.
Soda is not listed and that would be the biggest change over the past 40 years by far.
My pet theory is that because it is so filling, whole milk has a significant impact on satiety. Try drinking a cup of whole milk first thing in the morning -- I bet you won't snack as much for the entire day. So dropping from 0.7 cups of whole milk to 0.1 might not be such a great thing.
posted by miyabo at 10:23 AM on May 17, 2016
I can't hack the graphic to show calories right now, but if you look just at the top couple -- that 4 ounces of flour has around 400 calories, and that 45 grams of cooking oil has around 400 calories, so those two alone are a huge part of our caloric intake.
Cheese is probably the next most significant since our intake has roughly doubled from 100 calories to 200.
There's no real net change in meat, vegetables, or fruit, just substitutions.
Soda is not listed and that would be the biggest change over the past 40 years by far.
My pet theory is that because it is so filling, whole milk has a significant impact on satiety. Try drinking a cup of whole milk first thing in the morning -- I bet you won't snack as much for the entire day. So dropping from 0.7 cups of whole milk to 0.1 might not be such a great thing.
posted by miyabo at 10:23 AM on May 17, 2016
Does the long drop of whole milk and the slight rise in cheese have anything to do with cheese mountain?
posted by clawsoon at 11:08 AM on May 17, 2016
posted by clawsoon at 11:08 AM on May 17, 2016
Nthing the oat bran craze. Cheerios suddenly put "contains oat bran!" on their boxes, despite the fact that it had always contained oat bran from day one, and their sales tripled or something.
posted by Melismata at 11:23 AM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Melismata at 11:23 AM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
(So disheartening to learn that all these gospel declarations that I learned growing up, the ones that said "this food is magic unicorns and will save your life forever!" were just more marketing gimmicks and fads.)
posted by Melismata at 11:26 AM on May 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 11:26 AM on May 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
Americans eat a lot more potatoes than I would have thought. Is that from sides of french fries? I can't imagine people are cooking potatoes every night?
posted by Automocar at 12:29 PM on May 17, 2016
posted by Automocar at 12:29 PM on May 17, 2016
Bring back lard!
Lard was driven out of American pantries on purpose by tactical marketing from hydrogenated shortening companies. It's a much better-for-you cooking fat than shortening.
I can't imagine people are cooking potatoes every night?
I bet you're right about french fries. But people eat a lot of potatoes. In my house we have a baked potato for dinner about once every week or two weeks, with broccoli and stuff on top of it. Also, when you walk down the grocery freezer aisle, there are dozens and dozens of potato products - pierogis, tater tots, various shaped oven fries, steamer bags of new potatoes, mashed potatoes, etc. I think people do eat a lot of them.
posted by Miko at 12:39 PM on May 17, 2016 [4 favorites]
Lard was driven out of American pantries on purpose by tactical marketing from hydrogenated shortening companies. It's a much better-for-you cooking fat than shortening.
I can't imagine people are cooking potatoes every night?
I bet you're right about french fries. But people eat a lot of potatoes. In my house we have a baked potato for dinner about once every week or two weeks, with broccoli and stuff on top of it. Also, when you walk down the grocery freezer aisle, there are dozens and dozens of potato products - pierogis, tater tots, various shaped oven fries, steamer bags of new potatoes, mashed potatoes, etc. I think people do eat a lot of them.
posted by Miko at 12:39 PM on May 17, 2016 [4 favorites]
French fries. Tater tots. Baked potatoes. Home fries. Hashbrowns.
Mmmm. Now I'm getting hungry.
posted by jillithd at 12:39 PM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
Mmmm. Now I'm getting hungry.
posted by jillithd at 12:39 PM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'd imagine the decline in lard is also at least correlated with the increase in cooking oil usage mentioned upthread.
posted by aspersioncast at 1:39 PM on May 17, 2016
posted by aspersioncast at 1:39 PM on May 17, 2016
This well illustrates one of those "never would have guessed" factoids that amazed me a few years back - namely that over the pond you eat virtually no tasty, tasty lamb.And it's a good thing we don't - as lamb is, sadly, the worst common meat for the environment.
posted by kickingtheground at 1:51 PM on May 17, 2016
This well illustrates one of those "never would have guessed" factoids that amazed me a few years back - namely that over the pond you eat virtually no tasty, tasty lamb. You're missing out!
I love the taste of lamb, but my father-in-law kept sheep, and to my wife they were sort of, well, family members, while she grew up. (They were that super jumping breed, so they were also the first to leave home. For years there were reports of seeing the flock merrily hopping down various northern Illinois back roads).
posted by Chitownfats at 3:38 PM on May 17, 2016
I love the taste of lamb, but my father-in-law kept sheep, and to my wife they were sort of, well, family members, while she grew up. (They were that super jumping breed, so they were also the first to leave home. For years there were reports of seeing the flock merrily hopping down various northern Illinois back roads).
posted by Chitownfats at 3:38 PM on May 17, 2016
More potato commentary.
Another big source of potato eating would be chips (in the American use of the word).
posted by thefoxgod at 3:41 PM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
Another big source of potato eating would be chips (in the American use of the word).
posted by thefoxgod at 3:41 PM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
Apples have a bit of a drop from 1988-1990. I'm fairly certain this was the FUD over Alar. The chilean grape scare was the same year, but there's not really a significant change for those, though.
posted by asockpuppet at 4:19 PM on May 17, 2016
posted by asockpuppet at 4:19 PM on May 17, 2016
Nthing the oat bran craze. Cheerios suddenly put "contains oat bran!" on their boxes, despite the fact that it had always contained oat bran from day one, and their sales tripled or something.
One of the great things that came out of this (which is now gone) was this oat square cereal that had raisin INSIDE the oat square. It was so good. 12 year old me loved that.
40 year old me tried Life cereal for the first time this morning and hated it though. Maybe I should just leave oat cereals to nostalgia. If i do find the magic raisin square ones, I don't want to be disappointed.
posted by asockpuppet at 4:23 PM on May 17, 2016
One last thing: this data comes from the USDA, which is measuring how much food is produced, and estimating how much is thrown away. Not from diet journals from a random sample of individuals or something. I would guess that it is pretty inaccurate; their goal is to monitor farms, they don't really care about eating habits.
posted by miyabo at 8:15 PM on May 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by miyabo at 8:15 PM on May 17, 2016 [2 favorites]
Bring back lard!
Yeah, along with butter, it makes for the best pie crusts. On the rare occasion that I do make a pie from scratch, lard is what I use. Crisco?!!?!?1? Feh.
posted by droplet at 9:32 PM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
Yeah, along with butter, it makes for the best pie crusts. On the rare occasion that I do make a pie from scratch, lard is what I use. Crisco?!!?!?1? Feh.
posted by droplet at 9:32 PM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]
> Well, hell, technically tomatoes are a fruit. But they're categorized with the vegetables. I suspect that this chart is incorporating the laymans' perspective on things as well.
I don't understand why this continues to be a thing. Tomatoes are botanically a fruit, yes, as are peppers, cucumbers, corn, peas...
posted by desuetude at 6:36 AM on May 18, 2016 [1 favorite]
I don't understand why this continues to be a thing. Tomatoes are botanically a fruit, yes, as are peppers, cucumbers, corn, peas...
posted by desuetude at 6:36 AM on May 18, 2016 [1 favorite]
their goal is to monitor farms, they don't really care about eating habits.
Well, it comes from purchasing data - cash receipts - so it doesn't include waste, but it is post-yield. They do track eating to some degree but not in this program.
I don't understand why this continues to be a thing.
A lot of the weird ways this is categorized comes down to USDA tracking categories, which are influenced by history and bureaucracy. And once you've been counting something one way for 100 years, it's expensive and confusing to count it differently. You can go way down the rabbit hole of the USDA Economic Research Service if you enjoy this sort of misery. They do wrangle a metric ton of data.
posted by Miko at 8:08 AM on May 18, 2016 [1 favorite]
Well, it comes from purchasing data - cash receipts - so it doesn't include waste, but it is post-yield. They do track eating to some degree but not in this program.
I don't understand why this continues to be a thing.
A lot of the weird ways this is categorized comes down to USDA tracking categories, which are influenced by history and bureaucracy. And once you've been counting something one way for 100 years, it's expensive and confusing to count it differently. You can go way down the rabbit hole of the USDA Economic Research Service if you enjoy this sort of misery. They do wrangle a metric ton of data.
posted by Miko at 8:08 AM on May 18, 2016 [1 favorite]
American Cheese? That shit isn't even cheese. USA! USA!
posted by Liquidwolf at 9:25 AM on May 18, 2016
posted by Liquidwolf at 9:25 AM on May 18, 2016
One of the great things that came out of this (which is now gone) was this oat square cereal that had raisin INSIDE the oat square. It was so good. 12 year old me loved that.
AUGH YES THIS WAS THE GREATEST
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 3:00 PM on May 18, 2016
AUGH YES THIS WAS THE GREATEST
posted by We put our faith in Blast Hardcheese at 3:00 PM on May 18, 2016
About dark greens: Is there any chance that today's dark green vegetables taste better, and that's why we eat more of them? We've definitely come up with tastier apples over the past four decades.
(And if we are eating more dark greens because they've been bred to be sweeter or less bitter, it probably means that the health benefits that people from a generation or two ago got from eating them will be reduced for our generation...)
posted by clawsoon at 5:34 PM on May 18, 2016
(And if we are eating more dark greens because they've been bred to be sweeter or less bitter, it probably means that the health benefits that people from a generation or two ago got from eating them will be reduced for our generation...)
posted by clawsoon at 5:34 PM on May 18, 2016
clawsoon: I think it's more likely that green leafys, or a greater variety of them, have become "trendy". Only about 15 years ago when you said "green leafy vegetables" people thought of maybe spinach and that was it, but now there's, like, kale everywhere.
(The exception, of course, is in the southeastern US where y'all were always eating a huge variety of greens, so you could make the case that the uptick in the popularity of dark green leafy vegetables is a kind of culinary gentrification.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:03 PM on May 18, 2016 [1 favorite]
(The exception, of course, is in the southeastern US where y'all were always eating a huge variety of greens, so you could make the case that the uptick in the popularity of dark green leafy vegetables is a kind of culinary gentrification.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:03 PM on May 18, 2016 [1 favorite]
About dark greens: Is there any chance that today's dark green vegetables taste better, and that's why we eat more of them? We've definitely come up with tastier apples over the past four decades.
As a southerner, I can attest that collards are just as foul now as they were when I was 8. Just, as Empress says, trendier.
posted by hydropsyche at 6:10 PM on May 18, 2016
As a southerner, I can attest that collards are just as foul now as they were when I was 8. Just, as Empress says, trendier.
posted by hydropsyche at 6:10 PM on May 18, 2016
today's dark green vegetables taste better
here's the thing, though: cooking methods matter. When my Southern grandma made greens, she boiled them, usually with some sort of pork enhancement, and doused them with some vinegar. And that was good. But not particularly modern. I think greens have gotten a lot more palatable because of the application of Mediterranean cooking techniques to them - sauteeing with garlic and olive oil, or tossing them with lemon juice and avocado, rather than boiling them in pork fat and water. Yes, they've gotten trendier, but they wouldn't have if there hadn't also been a concurrent trend of working with vegetables in a different way than the classic American methods.
posted by Miko at 9:35 PM on May 18, 2016 [1 favorite]
here's the thing, though: cooking methods matter. When my Southern grandma made greens, she boiled them, usually with some sort of pork enhancement, and doused them with some vinegar. And that was good. But not particularly modern. I think greens have gotten a lot more palatable because of the application of Mediterranean cooking techniques to them - sauteeing with garlic and olive oil, or tossing them with lemon juice and avocado, rather than boiling them in pork fat and water. Yes, they've gotten trendier, but they wouldn't have if there hadn't also been a concurrent trend of working with vegetables in a different way than the classic American methods.
posted by Miko at 9:35 PM on May 18, 2016 [1 favorite]
Hey, the pork-and-vinegar-and-slow-cooking method doesn't necessarily taste bad either, though. Maybe not to everyone's taste, but I dig it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:01 AM on May 19, 2016
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:01 AM on May 19, 2016
Oh, don't get me wrong, I love them that way too. But because of the pork fat and the boiling they didn't fit the ideas popping up in the late '70s and '80s about how vegetables should be cooked - and boiling was going out as roasting and sauteeing came in.
posted by Miko at 7:01 AM on May 19, 2016
posted by Miko at 7:01 AM on May 19, 2016
> I don't understand why this continues to be a thing. A lot of the weird ways this is categorized comes down to USDA tracking categories, which are influenced by history and bureaucracy. And once you've been counting something one way for 100 years, it's expensive and confusing to count it differently.
I meant that obviously, it makes mores sense to count tomatoes with vegetables than with fruits because historically and culturally, that's the practice in the US. The "thing" being using the tomato as some sort of shining example of "categories ur doing it wrong" when there are plenty of vegetables which are botanical fruits (and so what.)
posted by desuetude at 1:03 PM on May 20, 2016
I meant that obviously, it makes mores sense to count tomatoes with vegetables than with fruits because historically and culturally, that's the practice in the US. The "thing" being using the tomato as some sort of shining example of "categories ur doing it wrong" when there are plenty of vegetables which are botanical fruits (and so what.)
posted by desuetude at 1:03 PM on May 20, 2016
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... though an honest question - - I couldn't find out what categories "American Cheese" and "Italian Cheese" meant... does, for example a Wisconsin chedder count as American Cheese or are they only talking about the family of processed-dairy-like products? And does shredded "Parmesan" made in Pennsylvania count as Italian?
(and yeah. I might have dug into the spreadsheets on the linked page looking for my beloved gouda to no avail...)
posted by Seeba at 6:32 AM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]