Foods of the 1970s

What average people eat in all times and places depends upon who they are (religious/ethnic heritage), where they live (urban centers, rural outposts) and how much money they have (wealthy folks had more choices). American chefs in the 1970s got to choose between classic French and fresh innovation. When New Southwest Cuisine spliced into the kitchen our American culinary map exploded into delicious fragments of provocative taste.
Most home cooks did not have this luxury of choice. Economic challenges of the 1970s went beyond the even/odd days at gas pumps. They also visited butcher counters in local supermarkets. Period cookbooks are imperfect barometers of actual plates served to real people. At best, they accurately report the collective vision of what average, middle class-people "should be" eating. For that reason they are worth examining. If you interview anybody who ate their way through the 1970s you are likely to find their meal recollections were pretty different from the following recommendations. People eat what's in the house. If the primary cook has time to cook traditional time-consuming recipes then so dines the rest of these house. Most folks through the ages valued food economy & prep time.
Since World War II, and especially since the 1970s, shifts in eating patterns have greatly accelerated. World War II played a key role in making the American diet more cosmopolitan. Overseas service introduced soldiers to a variety of foreign cuisines, while population movements at home exposed to a wider variety of American food ways. The post-war expansion of international trade also made American diets more diverse, making fresh fruits and vegetables available year round.