We are what we eat?

I%26#39;m interested in a narrative of how the American diet is different from 50 and 100 years ago? What%26#39;s different in what we drink, have for snacks, and in routine breakfast/lunch/dinners? Please limit hyperlinks to good narratives.
Hi! Thanks for the interesting question. I found the following sources that will fit the information you require. The first is an article at the University of Houston about the history of the American diet. %26#147;Before the Civil War, there were four major food traditions in the United States, each with English roots. These included a New England tradition that associated plain cooking with religious piety. Hostile toward fancy or highly seasoned foods, which they regarded as a form of sensual indulgence, New Englanders adopted an austere diet stressing boiled and baked meats, boiled vegetables, and baked breads and pies. A Southern tradition, with its high seasonings and emphasis on frying and simmering, was an amalgam of African, English, French, Spanish, and Indian foodways. In the middle Atlantic areas influenced by Quakerism, the diet tended to be plain and simple and emphasized boiling, including boiled puddings and dumplings. In frontier areas of the backcountry, the diet included many ingredients that other English used as animal feed, including potatoes, corn, and various greens. The backcountry diet stressed griddle cakes, grits, greens, and pork.%26#148; %26#147;One unique feature of the American diet from an early period was the abundance of meat--and distilled liquor. Abundant and fertile lands allowed settlers to raise corn and feed it to livestock as fodder, and convert much of the rest into whiskey. By the early nineteenth century, adult men were drinking more than 7 gallons of pure alcohol a year.%26#148; %26#147;During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, change in American foodways took place slowly, despite a steady influx of immigrants. Since World War II, and especially since the 1970s, shifts in eating patterns have greatly accelerated. World War II played a key role in making the American diet more cosmopolitan. Overseas service introduced soldiers to a variety of foreign cuisines, while population movements at home exposed to a wider variety of American foodways. The post-war expansion of international trade also made American diets more diverse, making fresh fruits and vegetables available year round.%26#148; %26#147;Food in America%26#148; by the Gilder Lehman History Timeline http://www.gliah.uh.edu/historyonline/food.cfm Another well made article about food history could be found at this link and first appeared at the Chicago Sun Times in 1999. %26#147;Dining Through the Decades%26#148; http://www.leitesculinaria.com/features/dining.html In this packaged food timeline, we could get a better idea on what Americans buy in their grocery stores in those days. %26#147;TWENTIETH CENTURY TIMELINE EDIBLES %26amp; QUAFFABLES%26#148; http://www.geocities.com/foodedge/timeline.htm The following is an anecdote of what the food was like in the early 20th century. %26#147;Although there seems to be a trend now back to cooking from scratch, during the middle 1900s, the prepackaged and convenience food phenomenon began in earnest. Strangely, home cooks embraced shortcuts with a passion, and the advertising industry with their recipe pamphlets and product test kitchens determined what we ate. That was how it happened that my mom in California and your mom in Montana both made a lime Jell-O salad with cottage cheese and pineapple. From that time forth, for the majority of Americans, %26quot;making soup%26quot; meant opening a can. For this reason, this web site devotes much of its space to familiar brand name foods, and the joy that our shared popular culture can bring. I%26#39;d like to welcome you to my web site, where we can remember it all together.%26#148; %26#147;American Food Century 1900 %26#150; 2000%26#148; http://www.geocities.com/foodedge/ Finally a very good resource of information regarding the evolution of the American diet could be found at the Food History website. Food Notes %26#150; from Food History http://www.foodhistory.com/foodnotes/index.htm Search terms used: %26#147;American diet%26#148; history %26#147;American food%26#148; history I hope these links would help you in your research. Before rating this answer, please ask for a clarification if you have a question or if you would need further information. Thanks for visiting us at Google Answers. Regards, Easterangel-ga