In the modern baking aisle, alternative starches like almond flour, cassava, and oat flour are ubiquitous, driven by gluten-free diets and health trends. But over a century ago, a massive corporate push attempted to crown a very different alternative starch as an American household staple. During the early 20th century, particularly around the wheat shortages … Read more
It’s the weirdest thing. The canned vegetable section of any major grocery store is a veritable who’s who of vegetables. The shelves are stacked high with green beans, sweet peas, sliced carrots, corn, and even asparagus. But if you look closely at that wall of preserved produce, you’ll notice a glaring omission. One of the … Read more
Conventional wisdom states that low-income families buy more fast food because they simply have to. This straightforward assumption is is based on the idea that fast food provides the most calories per dollar, making it an essential survival tool for a tight household budget. This perception is so deeply ingrained in our culture that it … Read more
If you read recent headlines from pop-food media, you might think the golden arches are collapsing. Articles with titles like “The Biggest Burger Chain In The US Isn’t Worth The Price, According To Customers“ and “Many Loyal McDonald’s Customers Are Done“ paint a picture of a mass exodus. They claim that lower-income customers are abandoning … Read more
Walk down the produce aisle of almost any modern grocery store, and you will find plump, ubiquitous blackberries year-round. They grow wild in millions of American backyards and are a staple of summer baking. Yet, if you walk over to the beverage aisle looking for a simple bottle of blackberry juice, you’ll find it is … Read more
If you look at the landscape of 18th-century transatlantic trade, there were few imported goods that signaled wealth, continental refinement, and absolute luxury quite like Italian pasta. Long before it was a pantry staple, pasta, specifically macaroni exported from Naples, was the culinary gold standard of the era. It was an exotic, highly sought-after ingredient … Read more