Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

This ad ran in 1975 and it says a lot about the economy of that time:

How to eat well in spite of it all.

Tonight’s dinner doesn’t have to look like today’s economy. Not with Kraft Dinners and a few touches of your own. Like adding some snipped parsley to Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Dinner and serving it with sausage and tomato wedges. Just one of the ways Kraft Dinners can help you eat well in spite of it all.

Kraft Dinners make ends meet.

Back in 1975, Kraft didn’t try to tell me that their Macaroni and Cheese was a healthy part of my daily diet. They hadn’t thought to convince the USDA that I should eat five to eleven servings of grains every day and that their dinner was a healthy way to achieve that goal.

No, they were far less devious back then. They just said it was an inexpensive way to feed your family. If the political pundits are correct, we are heading into a recession worse than they saw in the Seventies. Will the healthy advertising change when it hits us hard?

When Mike and I were first married, we were pretty poor. We ate Mac and Cheese (generic, because it was 25 cents a package), Ramen (10 cents a package) and spaghetti. I don’t know about Mike, but that year I went from 140 pounds to 178 pounds. I gained almost forty pounds in a year eating inexpensive food.

If I had spent my money on the fresh vegetables and meat instead, I would have spent just as much on each meal AND maintained my weight (if not lost). I know it looks like fresh meat and vegetables cost more than Kraft and Ramen, but you need to eat far less to feel full.

If you are feeling the financial pinch, don’t fall into the Mac and Cheese trap. Those simple carbohydrates make you feel MORE hungry than the same amount of meat for your money.

Via: Found in Mom’s Basement: Vintage ad for Kraft mac & cheese resigns itself to 1975’s crappy economy