Better Than Homemade: Amazing Food That Changed the Way We Eat

Better Than Homemade is a trip back in time, in an era when food was enjoyed for what it was, without dire warnings of what consuming the product would do to one's health. Many of the products in the book bring back memories of when I worked part time at the now defunct Red River Co-op grocery store in Winnipeg. Marketing food was fun in the 1970s, as there was none of today's customer obsession with "healthy", low fat, low calorie tasteless food. And yet the irony is that these days far more people have weight problems.

This is a retro treat aimed squarely at baby boomers that get a nostalgic rush every time they watch an episode of "Unwrapped", the addictive Food Network show that details how classic American food is made. As a junk-food connoisseur who has already written comprehensive books on Spam and Jell-O, author Carolyn Wyman has compiled eminently readable snapshots of forty-six familiar packaged goods created in the wake of World War II. At the time, housewives, who experienced the fruits of labor on the home front with their husbands away at war, were not as interested in fussing over meal preparation. Convenience came by way of increased industrialization and even the space program, manifesting itself into the kitchen staples highlighted here. Wyman cleverly categorizes the products into five groups - Homemaker Helpers, Powerful Packages, Triumphs of Technology, Indestructibles and Recyclables, and Marketing Marvels. First up were products designed to free up mom from the kitchen, for example, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Bird's Eye Frozen Vegetables, Marshmallow Fluff, and of course, Hamburger Helper. The packaging itself was the key differential for products such as Reddi-wip, PAM, Jiffy Pop Popcorn, and Pringles Potato Chips. Technology breakthroughs encompass revolutionary, genre-expanding products like Sanka, Bac-Os, and Carnation Instant Breakfast. Long shelf lives made Twinkies, Velveeta, Cheez Whiz and Mrs. Paul's Fish Sticks constantly available to harried housewives without worry of food poisoning. Lastly, the power of marketing became palpable with a diverse range of products from Jell-O to Kellogg's Pop-Tarts to Swanson TV Dinners, arguably the most duplicated concept on the market. A wealth of pleasing graphics is provided in the book, including images of original ads and packaging. There are also fun facts galore such as the evolution of the Green Giant as an advertising icon and a listing of the actual twelve ways that Wonder Bread helped build strong bodies, and bizarre trivia like the origins of the phrase, "Drink the Kool-Aid", in the 1978 Jonestown massacre and the fact that the Unabomber left an empty box of Ore-Ida Tater Tots in his deserted Montana shack. With the focus on organic foods now, these forty-six products have fallen mostly out of favor, although there are signs of a revival among some, for example, Swanson TV Dinners were being offered at San Francisco's trendy trash-food eatery, Butter, just a couple of years back. Regardless, Wyman knows that there is a strong affinity for these foods among an aging segment of the population, those who really feel they taste good in a pleasantly predictable way. I suppose that's why the idea of a Deep Fried Oreo still appeals to me now.

I like to collect pop culture "curio" books, and this is one of my favorites. It's lightly humorous while being very interesting, and I would recommend it to anyone casually interested in food, trivia, and pop culture. It's also great for people who take forever to poke through the asiles of the supermarket, reading all of the labels and product packaging out of interest more than anything else. Highly recommended, and also a great gift idea for children to discuss with parents or grandparents who "lived through it."

This is such a fun read! It's a fresh change of pace from all the dieting, natural and healthy food cookbooks that crowd the shelves of the cookbook section. This is probably one of the best retro food books out there. Wyman aims to neither worships nor ridicule these `miracle foods' of postwar years but instead showcases these foods and their stories with lighthearted fun. She makes the reader both question their food choices (Jell-o is made out of what?!) as well as quell the guilt of so many who eat and enjoy these processed foods. For example, Velveeta was made to be a healthy alternative to milk and Cheese Wiz a way to free up time spent making cheese sauce. The histories behind the foods are a lot of fun to read, especially for anyone liking trivia. While this book is a lighthearted, fun read, it does make you think more about food, the reasons behind buying and eating, and the social implications of how we eat. Food can signal a political leaning (potato flakes), an income (Hamburger Helper), a destruction of a way of life (the TV dinner and families eating around the dinner table) even teenage rebelliousness (Slim Jim). I like that Wyman focused so much on the way advertising affected the consumer. The more you know about the reasons why you eat the way you do leads to greater purchasing power or at least a heightened awareness of the food you buy. At any rate, this is a really fun book and would make a great gift to any food lover.

I'm in my 20's, a child of baby boomer parents. This book is both hysterical and comforting as I was raised on the vast majority of these "foods of the furture." If you remember eating Mom's special blue box Mac and cheese with cut up hot dogs, then this book is a must have. Nearly every deliciously disgusting processed food product ever made is chronicled in this colorful little book. My mother still makes a green bean cassarole every Thanksgiving that has more Campbell's soup and Velveeta in it than actual vegetables. She still owns and uses an original rectangular Tupperware Velveeta container introduced when Kraft merged with Tupperware. It must be 20+ years old. This book has plenty of product history, marketing successes (Kool-aid) and failures (Seafood Helper), and "fun fact" style notes in the margins (Dinty Moore stew was invented simply as something to fill $25 grand worth of war-surplus aluminium cans that were lying around in storage). I had a great time reading this, horrifying my "Whole Foods"-dedicated wife with stories and pictures of what I used to eat. Enjoy.