It was designed to get you ready for K rations in a nuclear hellscape
ETA: After thinking about it, it does resemble a lot of the meals fed to GIs - canned stuff, weird ingredients, lots of processed foods. I bet that had an influence on this sort of thing.
The postwar attitude towards food was somewhat different than ours today. Back then, processed food was seen as a technological marvel, a symbol of man’s mastery over nature. Fortified bread meant your kids could get their essential nutrients. Any kind of vegetable could be found in a can - no more reliance on whatever was in season. Everything a housewife could need was pre-packaged, condensed, powdered, canned, or frozen. Processed food was advertised as tastier, healthier, and easier to prepare. Food companies would publish recipes like this, which were basically just “toss a can of this and a can of that together for an easy meal!”
I’m starting to think mid-century cooking was a psy-op
It was designed to get you ready for K rations in a nuclear hellscape
ETA: After thinking about it, it does resemble a lot of the meals fed to GIs - canned stuff, weird ingredients, lots of processed foods. I bet that had an influence on this sort of thing.
The postwar attitude towards food was somewhat different than ours today. Back then, processed food was seen as a technological marvel, a symbol of man’s mastery over nature. Fortified bread meant your kids could get their essential nutrients. Any kind of vegetable could be found in a can - no more reliance on whatever was in season. Everything a housewife could need was pre-packaged, condensed, powdered, canned, or frozen. Processed food was advertised as tastier, healthier, and easier to prepare. Food companies would publish recipes like this, which were basically just “toss a can of this and a can of that together for an easy meal!”