Hungry History: Convenience Food in the US

Cans, TV dinners, jarred preserves, box meals. All are examples of convenience food we often associate with today's grocery stores.

These types of meals have origins, partly, in most worldwide agricultural settlements where preservation and portability were required. One example, the Aztecs, shows that warriors and scouts often carried meals that required only the addition of water for easy transport and storage.

The 19th Century in the US brought innovations in packaging, particularly the viability of canning. Although canning had been around as early as the 1850's, the ability to make cans on a larger scale came about when machines allowed low-skilled operators to replace specialized tin workers in the manufacture of large-scale product quickly.

The ability to freeze food, particularly the innovation of refrigeration and refrigerated trucks, brought frozen meals and frozen veggies from across the world to the grocery cart of populations throughout the country.

A particularly important vehicle for the development of convenience foods was the experience of US military personnel in World War II. Required to survive, and fight, in often harsh, remote conditions, these soldiers required not only hearty meals, but shelf-safe packaging with easy preparation, often with just water. As the soldiers returned, the technology they utilized became adopted in the market. Private firm factories once dedicated to the manufacture of packaged goods for military use transferred their machinery, and advertising budgets, to marketing these same goods to the general public. The legacy of these convenience foods in the 1950's and beyond survives in our grocery stores as divergent products and crackers, cookies, snack bars, instant noodles, processed pasta and rice dishes, cereals, and a wide variety of other goods.

This meal pictured here showcases a prepackaged microwavable rice dish, including dehydrated peas and carrots with a powdered flavoring, frozen cut corn, and packaged smoked sausages browned on the stovetop and served on top. Alongside the food is a packaged lemonade flavored drink.

By 221.20 (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

A personal favorite convenience food comes from Japan, their innovative packaging for onigiri (rice balls) ensures the nori (seaweed) stays crisp while the sushi rice and filling remains moist and delicious!