Memories of my Grandmother

One of my early childhood memories is of visiting a general store in rural northern Michigan.  I think I was about 4 at the time; my sisters and I were staying with Grandma possibly when my younger brother was born.  My grandmother didn’t drive so we all went to the store together.  I remember standing at the counter watching the grocery man pull things down, with a long handled pole,  as grandma listed the things she wanted.  Things like the flour and sugar were weighed and were then bagged in paper bags.

Several weeks ago I heard an interview on NPR with Michael Moss the author of Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us.  As I’m reading the way salt and sugar affect us and cause us to crave more, I’m amazed to think of the changes that have happened in our food delivery system in my lifetime. I'm an adult who never had an Oreo until my college roommate introduced me to them.  I’m ashamed to admit I’m making up for lost time.

This same grandmother had a wood burning cook stove in her kitchen, alongside her electric stove, except for the summer she really preferred her  big wood stove.  As an adult I visited  and noted that she'd added a microwave to her kitchen appliances, but the wood stove was still there.

I haven’t finished the book, but my eyes are certainly opened to the changes in the formulation of our foods.  I’m finding the book to be an interesting read.