When did junk food/sweets/fast food stop being just an occasional treat?
Options
Replies
-
When I was born, my father and his father and all his brothers were ditch diggers. They used heavy machinery to dig but they laid tile by hand. This was incredibly labor - intensive. On my mom's side, my grandfather and his sons were farmers. These lifestyles required enormous amounts of energy, but there was very little money to spare.
As a consequence, eating out was an annual treat, coming at home was essential, and sweet treats were constantly baked and available.
When my dad went to college, we cut dessert back from nightly to Sundays or family gatherings only, and chips were for family picnics only. Fast food began to enter our diet, but was limited to a kids happy meal once a month or less. I remember my dad bringing candy bars home for us about once a week.
I was a typical active kid, and tall but not willowy. I look at photographs and see a healthy kid of normal weight, though I stayed perceiving myself as fat at age 7. My weight did not get out of control, in fact, until I went to college and stopped being very active, skipping my hour long swimming workouts and getting jobs in laboratories instead of fieldwork, and drank way too much mountain dew while studying.
As long as I was active, that high calorie "treat - rich" environment worked, and I'd argue it was essential for many people in the family. It just didn't work with lowered physical exertion.3 -
squatsanddeadlift wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »I think how people eat is their own personal business.
Totally respect that and I'm not advocating one way or another.
I'm just wondering why attitudes towards sweets and fast food have changed, or why people view them so much differently.
That is your personal experience. I am sure there were families that ate sweets regularly while you were growing up.
I think that you are being defensive which is stopping you from seeing his point. He is talking about how many years ago 1950's and 60's it was not the norm to eat junk food in the quantities that we eat them in today. There are studies to back this up.
I don't think that's the case here, why do you say that? OP's profile gives no info, and she says in her OP "I'm an adult now" which leads me to think she is talking about a more recent time of growing up. I wouldn't think someone who grew up in the 1950s would describe themselves that way. <shrug>
And I think if you read all the replies, it really doesn't seem like "when" you grew up matters as much as "where" and what the circumstances of your family were.2 -
squatsanddeadlift wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »I think how people eat is their own personal business.
Totally respect that and I'm not advocating one way or another.
I'm just wondering why attitudes towards sweets and fast food have changed, or why people view them so much differently.
That is your personal experience. I am sure there were families that ate sweets regularly while you were growing up.
I think that you are being defensive which is stopping you from seeing his point. He is talking about how many years ago 1950's and 60's it was not the norm to eat junk food in the quantities that we eat them in today. There are studies to back this up.
I don't think that's the case here, why do you say that? OP's profile gives no info, and she says in her OP "I'm an adult now" which leads me to think she is talking about a more recent time of growing up. I wouldn't think someone who grew up in the 1950s would describe themselves that way. <shrug>
And I think if you read all the replies, it really doesn't seem like "when" you grew up matters as much as "where" and what the circumstances of your family were.
I believe she told me in an earlier reply that she was 27. There is no way she's referring to the 1950s/1960s, she'd be referring to the 1990s/2000s.
*stares into space, feeling ancient*7 -
squatsanddeadlift wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »I think how people eat is their own personal business.
Totally respect that and I'm not advocating one way or another.
I'm just wondering why attitudes towards sweets and fast food have changed, or why people view them so much differently.
That is your personal experience. I am sure there were families that ate sweets regularly while you were growing up.
I think that you are being defensive which is stopping you from seeing his point. He is talking about how many years ago 1950's and 60's it was not the norm to eat junk food in the quantities that we eat them in today. There are studies to back this up.
And I think if you read all the replies, it really doesn't seem like "when" you grew up matters as much as "where" and what the circumstances of your family were.
I think the *when* certainly has a lot to do with it (though not everything, of course), but I also think many, if not most, of the posters think "way back" was in the 90s! But another decade or 2 and I think it would be safe to say, eating out was a treat and there was not the proliferation of, or as easy access to, what most people would consider "junk" like there is today. We need some older ones on the thread to make a fair comparison!
Of course, Happy Days taught me all teenagers hung out in diners in the 50s, so there is that.
0 -
If I had to put an approximate time to the period when the variety & ubiquity of fast foods, snack foods & prepared foods really started to explode during my life, I'd guess mid to late 1960s.
It was pretty much in full swing by the time I was in college in the mid 1970s, though of course it did and still does continue to evolve.
Like I said, I'm 47, and I recall there being fast foods and prepared foods like TV dinners and things like poptarts, frozen waffles, candy, frozen treats, Oreos, chips, Ding Dongs, on and on, being easily available when I was a kid (1970s and 1980). I do recall them being kind of rarer, though: I don't think fast food was harder to get to, but people had it as a treat, not multiple times a week. Like I said, the stats I've seen do suggest that people eat it more now, but not because it wasn't available before. Perhaps the same with the snacky stuff (I recall mainly eating it in summers sometimes, as a snack, frozen waffles as a part of a weekend breakfast sometimes (although more often we'd have pancakes from Bisquick). I think the amounts eaten were smaller (and chips were a side with sandwiches, not a snack to have outside of mealtime). We'd have a post school snack, and not eat that stuff at school (it wasn't available to my memory). But of course how much you had it depended on parents, since I don't recall ever going to the store and buying food with my own money (as a teen we went to get dinner/lunch together sometimes, but I still don't recall buying snacks).
TV dinners were for when my parents went out.1 -
squatsanddeadlift wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »I think how people eat is their own personal business.
Totally respect that and I'm not advocating one way or another.
I'm just wondering why attitudes towards sweets and fast food have changed, or why people view them so much differently.
That is your personal experience. I am sure there were families that ate sweets regularly while you were growing up.
I think that you are being defensive which is stopping you from seeing his point. He is talking about how many years ago 1950's and 60's it was not the norm to eat junk food in the quantities that we eat them in today. There are studies to back this up.
The OP has no experience of the '50s and '60s, as the OP (a she, I think) is 27. I think she was talking about the '00s, when things were exactly like now, to my experience/memory.3 -
Back in the day we didn't eat out every week, it was more like once in a while. Things were expensive back then. But the moment I started working that was the day I treated myself almost every day eating what I love. Junk food
0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »If I had to put an approximate time to the period when the variety & ubiquity of fast foods, snack foods & prepared foods really started to explode during my life, I'd guess mid to late 1960s.
It was pretty much in full swing by the time I was in college in the mid 1970s, though of course it did and still does continue to evolve.
Like I said, I'm 47, and I recall there being fast foods and prepared foods like TV dinners and things like poptarts, frozen waffles, candy, frozen treats, Oreos, chips, Ding Dongs, on and on, being easily available when I was a kid (1970s and 1980). I do recall them being kind of rarer, though: I don't think fast food was harder to get to, but people had it as a treat, not multiple times a week. Like I said, the stats I've seen do suggest that people eat it more now, but not because it wasn't available before. Perhaps the same with the snacky stuff (I recall mainly eating it in summers sometimes, as a snack, frozen waffles as a part of a weekend breakfast sometimes (although more often we'd have pancakes from Bisquick). I think the amounts eaten were smaller (and chips were a side with sandwiches, not a snack to have outside of mealtime). We'd have a post school snack, and not eat that stuff at school (it wasn't available to my memory). But of course how much you had it depended on parents, since I don't recall ever going to the store and buying food with my own money (as a teen we went to get dinner/lunch together sometimes, but I still don't recall buying snacks).
TV dinners were for when my parents went out.
I think it would be really interesting to do a walk-thru of a circa 1975 grocery store as compared to today. Yesterday when I went to the store, the entire front wall (40 ft?) was lined with Little Debbies, Doritos, & chips. Across from that was a sizable section of Easter candy. Then the produce dept (with displays of caramel wraps to wrap your apples in, and cakes to put your fruit on). Every end cap had crackers, cakes, etc. And the pop has its own aisle & actually overflows into a center island in the canned goods, presumably because they have such a hard time keeping it stocked. Half the frozen section is ice cream, frozen treats, and frozen pizza. I really don't remember it being like that when I used to go grocery shopping with my mom. This is a pretty small store by today's standards, mind you, and very similar to the size of the one my mom shopped in (in a Midwest, but urban, area). I had to really hunt for the boxes of animal crackers she would sometimes let me get.0 -
squatsanddeadlift wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »I think how people eat is their own personal business.
Totally respect that and I'm not advocating one way or another.
I'm just wondering why attitudes towards sweets and fast food have changed, or why people view them so much differently.
That is your personal experience. I am sure there were families that ate sweets regularly while you were growing up.
I think that you are being defensive which is stopping you from seeing his point. He is talking about how many years ago 1950's and 60's it was not the norm to eat junk food in the quantities that we eat them in today. There are studies to back this up.
And I think if you read all the replies, it really doesn't seem like "when" you grew up matters as much as "where" and what the circumstances of your family were.
I think the *when* certainly has a lot to do with it (though not everything, of course), but I also think many, if not most, of the posters think "way back" was in the 90s! But another decade or 2 and I think it would be safe to say, eating out was a treat and there was not the proliferation of, or as easy access to, what most people would consider "junk" like there is today. We need some older ones on the thread to make a fair comparison!
Of course, Happy Days taught me all teenagers hung out in diners in the 50s, so there is that.
I don't know, I was born in '72 and we had Frosted Flakes, Aunt Jemima frozen pancakes, Chips Ahoy cookies, the Keebler elves, Ruffles potato chips, Kitkats, Twinkies, frozen dinners etc. We were in the suburbs of NYC though, so I'd suspect young families in more rural or out of the way areas might not have had access to quite so much yet, but the commercials were all over TV.2 -
I had to really hunt for the boxes of animal crackers she would sometimes let me get.lemurcat12 wrote: »If I had to put an approximate time to the period when the variety & ubiquity of fast foods, snack foods & prepared foods really started to explode during my life, I'd guess mid to late 1960s.
It was pretty much in full swing by the time I was in college in the mid 1970s, though of course it did and still does continue to evolve.
Like I said, I'm 47, and I recall there being fast foods and prepared foods like TV dinners and things like poptarts, frozen waffles, candy, frozen treats, Oreos, chips, Ding Dongs, on and on, being easily available when I was a kid (1970s and 1980). I do recall them being kind of rarer, though: I don't think fast food was harder to get to, but people had it as a treat, not multiple times a week. Like I said, the stats I've seen do suggest that people eat it more now, but not because it wasn't available before. Perhaps the same with the snacky stuff (I recall mainly eating it in summers sometimes, as a snack, frozen waffles as a part of a weekend breakfast sometimes (although more often we'd have pancakes from Bisquick). I think the amounts eaten were smaller (and chips were a side with sandwiches, not a snack to have outside of mealtime). We'd have a post school snack, and not eat that stuff at school (it wasn't available to my memory). But of course how much you had it depended on parents, since I don't recall ever going to the store and buying food with my own money (as a teen we went to get dinner/lunch together sometimes, but I still don't recall buying snacks).
TV dinners were for when my parents went out.
Animal crackers. There were also the same-sized little boxes with chocolate crinkle cookies in them. On the box, one of the cookies was made into a cat with pointy ears and a face, like a child's drawing. I would promise to be nice to my little brother just to get to put a box of those in the cart lol. 0 -
I had to really hunt for the boxes of animal crackers she would sometimes let me get.lemurcat12 wrote: »If I had to put an approximate time to the period when the variety & ubiquity of fast foods, snack foods & prepared foods really started to explode during my life, I'd guess mid to late 1960s.
It was pretty much in full swing by the time I was in college in the mid 1970s, though of course it did and still does continue to evolve.
Like I said, I'm 47, and I recall there being fast foods and prepared foods like TV dinners and things like poptarts, frozen waffles, candy, frozen treats, Oreos, chips, Ding Dongs, on and on, being easily available when I was a kid (1970s and 1980). I do recall them being kind of rarer, though: I don't think fast food was harder to get to, but people had it as a treat, not multiple times a week. Like I said, the stats I've seen do suggest that people eat it more now, but not because it wasn't available before. Perhaps the same with the snacky stuff (I recall mainly eating it in summers sometimes, as a snack, frozen waffles as a part of a weekend breakfast sometimes (although more often we'd have pancakes from Bisquick). I think the amounts eaten were smaller (and chips were a side with sandwiches, not a snack to have outside of mealtime). We'd have a post school snack, and not eat that stuff at school (it wasn't available to my memory). But of course how much you had it depended on parents, since I don't recall ever going to the store and buying food with my own money (as a teen we went to get dinner/lunch together sometimes, but I still don't recall buying snacks).
TV dinners were for when my parents went out.
Animal crackers. There were also the same-sized little boxes with chocolate crinkle cookies in them. On the box, one of the cookies was made into a cat with pointy ears and a face, like a child's drawing. I would promise to be nice to my little brother just to get to put a box of those in the cart lol.
Yes! Didn't even care about the cookies so much, but with the little handle, it was like having a cute accessory. 1 -
squatsanddeadlift wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »I think how people eat is their own personal business.
Totally respect that and I'm not advocating one way or another.
I'm just wondering why attitudes towards sweets and fast food have changed, or why people view them so much differently.
That is your personal experience. I am sure there were families that ate sweets regularly while you were growing up.
I think that you are being defensive which is stopping you from seeing his point. He is talking about how many years ago 1950's and 60's it was not the norm to eat junk food in the quantities that we eat them in today. There are studies to back this up.
And I think if you read all the replies, it really doesn't seem like "when" you grew up matters as much as "where" and what the circumstances of your family were.
I think the *when* certainly has a lot to do with it (though not everything, of course), but I also think many, if not most, of the posters think "way back" was in the 90s! But another decade or 2 and I think it would be safe to say, eating out was a treat and there was not the proliferation of, or as easy access to, what most people would consider "junk" like there is today. We need some older ones on the thread to make a fair comparison!
Of course, Happy Days taught me all teenagers hung out in diners in the 50s, so there is that.
My parents grew up in the 40's and 50's. As I said earlier, take out and fast food was basically non-existent, but sweets and snack foods were readily available and commonly consumed.
Hell, many of my relatives (not grandparents, but their brothers and sisters) worked at the Hershey plant most of their lives. There was plenty of candy to go around. Plenty being sold, too.0 -
squatsanddeadlift wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »Chef_Barbell wrote: »I think how people eat is their own personal business.
Totally respect that and I'm not advocating one way or another.
I'm just wondering why attitudes towards sweets and fast food have changed, or why people view them so much differently.
That is your personal experience. I am sure there were families that ate sweets regularly while you were growing up.
I think that you are being defensive which is stopping you from seeing his point. He is talking about how many years ago 1950's and 60's it was not the norm to eat junk food in the quantities that we eat them in today. There are studies to back this up.
And I think if you read all the replies, it really doesn't seem like "when" you grew up matters as much as "where" and what the circumstances of your family were.
I think the *when* certainly has a lot to do with it (though not everything, of course), but I also think many, if not most, of the posters think "way back" was in the 90s! But another decade or 2 and I think it would be safe to say, eating out was a treat and there was not the proliferation of, or as easy access to, what most people would consider "junk" like there is today. We need some older ones on the thread to make a fair comparison!
Of course, Happy Days taught me all teenagers hung out in diners in the 50s, so there is that.
My parents grew up in the 40's and 50's. As I said earlier, take out and fast food was basically non-existent, but sweets and snack foods were readily available and commonly consumed.
Hell, many of my relatives (not grandparents, but their brothers and sisters) worked at the Hershey plant most of their lives. There was plenty of candy to go around. Plenty being sold, too.
I guess I'm envisioning a small display of candy in the one store in town (I really this could be entirely inaccurate). Like I've said, I don't pretend it's the only factor.0 -
Growing up in the 70's and 80's we never ate fast food. Didn't exist. Homecooking every day. Every now and then some chocolate or pudding. Even today I don't care for sugary stuff. Fast food like MC Donalds Burgers etc. is IMO disgusting. Guess how ever you grow up.1
-
infinitynevermore wrote: »I'm 30. My sister and I grew up in a single-parent household. My mother worked 2-3 jobs to make ends meet, so we grew up on reduced school breakfast and lunch and frozen dinners. And while our food wasn't healthy, we also didn't have access to a lot of sweets and soda. Take out was a treat, and restaurant eating was only a few times a year. And I was very active. Once I became a teenager, I started buying my own packaged food to replace the school food, but I was still active, so while I filled out, I was still in a healthy weight. It wasn't until I got out of college and started a sedentary job that I started to gain too much weight.
I literally could have written this entire paragraph myself. Only instead of frozen dinners, we got boxed mac and cheese and hot dogs. I had to learn to cook very young to survive.
I'm still not crazy about hot dogs. A good homemade macaroni and cheese though, that's still worth the occasional calorie splurge.
1 -
I think our age difference, 47 to 61, is just enough difference to make a difference.lemurcat12 wrote: »If I had to put an approximate time to the period when the variety & ubiquity of fast foods, snack foods & prepared foods really started to explode during my life, I'd guess mid to late 1960s.
It was pretty much in full swing by the time I was in college in the mid 1970s, though of course it did and still does continue to evolve.
Like I said, I'm 47, and I recall there being fast foods and prepared foods like TV dinners and things like poptarts, frozen waffles, candy, frozen treats, Oreos, chips, Ding Dongs, on and on, being easily available when I was a kid (1970s and 1980). I do recall them being kind of rarer, though: I don't think fast food was harder to get to, but people had it as a treat, not multiple times a week. Like I said, the stats I've seen do suggest that people eat it more now, but not because it wasn't available before. Perhaps the same with the snacky stuff (I recall mainly eating it in summers sometimes, as a snack, frozen waffles as a part of a weekend breakfast sometimes (although more often we'd have pancakes from Bisquick). I think the amounts eaten were smaller (and chips were a side with sandwiches, not a snack to have outside of mealtime). We'd have a post school snack, and not eat that stuff at school (it wasn't available to my memory). But of course how much you had it depended on parents, since I don't recall ever going to the store and buying food with my own money (as a teen we went to get dinner/lunch together sometimes, but I still don't recall buying snacks).
TV dinners were for when my parents went out.
I'm a passenger on a car ride from MI to NJ and kinda bored, so I looked a few things up.
Pop-tarts came out in 1964. Hostess brand took Ding Dongs national in 1967, though they'd been a regional treat earlier. Eggo frozen waffles were distributed nationally in 1953.
Tortilla chips moved from a regional thing to national popularity in the 1970s, competing with earlier corn chips (Frito-Lay brought out Fritos in 1959).
McDonalds, arguably the first national chain fast food (as opposed to short order), began franchising in the mid-1950s, but wasn't really widespread until the 1960s.
Candy & frozen treats have been around far longer, obviously, though variety and ubiquity have burgeoned. Treats in general have existed as long as humans, but prior to the 20th century were much more constrained by locale, season, and wealth, of course, at least in the US.3 -
bienemajamfp wrote: »Growing up in the 70's and 80's we never ate fast food. Didn't exist. Homecooking every day. Every now and then some chocolate or pudding. Even today I don't care for sugary stuff. Fast food like MC Donalds Burgers etc. is IMO disgusting. Guess how ever you grow up.
What do you mean it didn't exist? Of course it did.4 -
I had to really hunt for the boxes of animal crackers she would sometimes let me get.lemurcat12 wrote: »If I had to put an approximate time to the period when the variety & ubiquity of fast foods, snack foods & prepared foods really started to explode during my life, I'd guess mid to late 1960s.
It was pretty much in full swing by the time I was in college in the mid 1970s, though of course it did and still does continue to evolve.
Like I said, I'm 47, and I recall there being fast foods and prepared foods like TV dinners and things like poptarts, frozen waffles, candy, frozen treats, Oreos, chips, Ding Dongs, on and on, being easily available when I was a kid (1970s and 1980). I do recall them being kind of rarer, though: I don't think fast food was harder to get to, but people had it as a treat, not multiple times a week. Like I said, the stats I've seen do suggest that people eat it more now, but not because it wasn't available before. Perhaps the same with the snacky stuff (I recall mainly eating it in summers sometimes, as a snack, frozen waffles as a part of a weekend breakfast sometimes (although more often we'd have pancakes from Bisquick). I think the amounts eaten were smaller (and chips were a side with sandwiches, not a snack to have outside of mealtime). We'd have a post school snack, and not eat that stuff at school (it wasn't available to my memory). But of course how much you had it depended on parents, since I don't recall ever going to the store and buying food with my own money (as a teen we went to get dinner/lunch together sometimes, but I still don't recall buying snacks).
TV dinners were for when my parents went out.
Animal crackers. There were also the same-sized little boxes with chocolate crinkle cookies in them. On the box, one of the cookies was made into a cat with pointy ears and a face, like a child's drawing. I would promise to be nice to my little brother just to get to put a box of those in the cart lol.
Yes! Didn't even care about the cookies so much, but with the little handle, it was like having a cute accessory.
Oh, I loved the animal crackers with the little handle! With the circus animals on the side? I would sit on the bottom of the cart (the kind with the high basket) and be pushed around the store eating my crackers (my mom would pay for the empty box) till she needed the space on the bottom, then I got my butt kicked off and sent to the magazine rack till she was ready to check out. We would get one 8-pack of the bottled Pepsi that comes in the cardboard carton with the handle, and she would duly bring back the empties for an 80-cent refund. That was my dad's pop--we couldn't touch it! I would also eat all the cheese in the deli section of Kroger, which looked like a little German village shop; I was probably getting the side eye from the worker, but hey, I really like cheese!
ETA: this was in the 70s and early 80s.0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »If I had to put an approximate time to the period when the variety & ubiquity of fast foods, snack foods & prepared foods really started to explode during my life, I'd guess mid to late 1960s.
It was pretty much in full swing by the time I was in college in the mid 1970s, though of course it did and still does continue to evolve.
Like I said, I'm 47, and I recall there being fast foods and prepared foods like TV dinners and things like poptarts, frozen waffles, candy, frozen treats, Oreos, chips, Ding Dongs, on and on, being easily available when I was a kid (1970s and 1980). I do recall them being kind of rarer, though: I don't think fast food was harder to get to, but people had it as a treat, not multiple times a week. Like I said, the stats I've seen do suggest that people eat it more now, but not because it wasn't available before. Perhaps the same with the snacky stuff (I recall mainly eating it in summers sometimes, as a snack, frozen waffles as a part of a weekend breakfast sometimes (although more often we'd have pancakes from Bisquick). I think the amounts eaten were smaller (and chips were a side with sandwiches, not a snack to have outside of mealtime). We'd have a post school snack, and not eat that stuff at school (it wasn't available to my memory). But of course how much you had it depended on parents, since I don't recall ever going to the store and buying food with my own money (as a teen we went to get dinner/lunch together sometimes, but I still don't recall buying snacks).
TV dinners were for when my parents went out.
I think it would be really interesting to do a walk-thru of a circa 1975 grocery store as compared to today. Yesterday when I went to the store, the entire front wall (40 ft?) was lined with Little Debbies, Doritos, & chips. Across from that was a sizable section of Easter candy. Then the produce dept (with displays of caramel wraps to wrap your apples in, and cakes to put your fruit on). Every end cap had crackers, cakes, etc. And the pop has its own aisle & actually overflows into a center island in the canned goods, presumably because they have such a hard time keeping it stocked. Half the frozen section is ice cream, frozen treats, and frozen pizza. I really don't remember it being like that when I used to go grocery shopping with my mom. This is a pretty small store by today's standards, mind you, and very similar to the size of the one my mom shopped in (in a Midwest, but urban, area). I had to really hunt for the boxes of animal crackers she would sometimes let me get.
I'm not sure 1975 would capture as much change as 1970, even.
For sure, the average grocery store was smaller. Less variety in the categories you mention, but in pretty much everything else, too.
The difference in produce is huge since the mid-1970s. I remember living in NV for the summer in 1974, and being astounded by produce in the grocery stores vs MI - they were closer to the CA growing regions. These days, not much difference as I cross the country. Same scenario with seafood.
Much more of everything now, except some true raw materials (flour, sugar, etc - less used now - more types available perhaps, but in smaller sizes & less total space devoted).
Big increase in frozen prepared foods, salty snacks, candy, "health foods" (would've only been in coops and specialty store in most places, not mainstream grocery).
Some big categories barely existed: Granola bars/health bars, specialty bottled water, diverse types of yogurt. They were fairly new then.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »jessiferrrb wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »On the other hand, I liked going to friends houses because it seemed like they always had "the goods"...sleep overs and Fruit Loops for breakfast, etc. One of my dad's really good friends was pretty well to do and they ate out frequently...I was always a little jealous. We only ever ate out on Sunday after church.
yaasss! going to kids houses that had poptarts was amazing! or just going to houses where they had free range to access the fridge. my mom would always monitor access to food and i felt like it was so cool when kids could make their own food decisions. except for my one friend who used to eat raw cheese filled hotdogs out of the fridge after school.
Yeah, my mom never bought stuff like that. I can remember grocery shopping and I'd beg and plead for something besides oatmeal or cheerios..."like please can I have Lucky Charms fecking once before I die?"
My pops had a bit of an affinity for chocolate doughnuts though...so he'd sneak me one here and there.
I think alot of us were separated at birth.
My folks were always waiting on the next depression to happen, so while they made middle class incomes, they were incredibly frugal and saved ~60% of their income (not exaggerating). I grew up with off brand generics like Oatey O's, bags of puffed rice and the cheapest foods in bulk imaginable. Pops was definitely the target demographic of Sams Club.
Sleep overs were a blessing - Sodas! Name brand Sugar Frosted Bomb Flakes! Brand name Kool-Aid (not Wylers) with a full cup of sugar! Oh sweet joy!
On rare occasions if I worked enough to earn my keep Pop would bring home a 2L of red cream soda.
I see much of this a trade off with quality time over convenience.
I think I'm related to you guys too! Oatmeal and eggs, when the glories of Capn' Crunch exist?!
And yep, eating out once a week, after church, unless we were visiting family (my grandma pickled EVERY damn thing!)1
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.7K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.8K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 395 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.3K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 960 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions