Tag: Great depression food

Available calories in the American diet grew by an estimated 18% between 1909 and the end of the century. This increase, however, did not occur evenly across the board, and the amount of calories people consumed varied dramatically depending on their socioeconomic status during the challenging decade of the 1930s.

Facing widespread economic hardship during the Great Depression, people in the 1930s radically shifted their eating habits, prioritizing cheap and filling ingredients over costly proteins. This era of scarcity necessitated immense resourcefulness and creativity in the kitchen, giving rise to many inventive dishes that made a little go a long way.