Forty Years of Food Trends

Milwaukee Then and Now

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Our eating habits have changed a lot since 1982. Today’s palates are more refined and experimental, but one thing has stayed the same: food always was and always will be the essence of what comforts us, bonds us and brings us together.

The Home Table

The early ‘80s brought an onslaught of convenience everything. It wasn’t cool to cook, and time saving products like Rice-A-Roni boxed pilaf mixes, pour-and-bake quiche, canned Sloppy Joes and spray cheese in a can were all the rage. Kids’ delights included pudding in frozen pop form or shredded bubble gum sold in a pouch to mimic chewing tobacco. Blue became a flavor as well as a color for everything from ice pops to juice to cereal.

The joy of convenience carried into the ‘90s. Most recipes published in checkout stand magazines or passed around workplaces consisted of ingredients lists made up of Cool Whip, boxed cake mixes, Cheez Whiz, canned chili or refrigerator biscuits.

Thankfully, we could usually count on grandma to still make a meal from scratch. Despite the dominance of packaged food, many people still appreciated quality, setting the tone for the whole foods movement that would lay ahead in the 2000s.

By the early-mid ‘00s, federal nutrition labeling standards passed during the ‘90s garnered attention and people started to wonder what the hell words like ‘partially hydrogenated oil’ meant. Documentaries such as Food, Inc. set off an awareness of the industrial food chain and had local farmers’ phones ringing off the hook.

Culinary arts became cool again, and many of today’s home cooks have returned to our roots by making scratch-made meals with fresh ingredients. The desire for convenience is still there, as evidenced by home meal kits with portioned fresh ingredients all in one box. Packaged foods are still prominent, but the popularity of neighborhood farmers markets, along with cooking classes, cooking shows, blogs and cookbook clubs, are testament that people want healthy quality over convenience. Recent pandemic isolation brought a renewed interest in old world culinary arts like sourdough bread and pastry.

Grocery Stores

Local chain grocers such as Kohl’s and Sentry dominated the early ‘80s, eventually falling to warehouse-style grocery stores like Roundy’s Pick n’ Save, Cub Foods or Illinois-based Jewel-Osco, which came and went in Milwaukee during the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s.

Family-owned neighborhood grocery stores struggled. The ‘80s would end up being the last full decade of business for corner grocers like Hintz Foods, in Bay View, which had a meat counter and a produce department. Ethnic grocers such as Groppi’s, also in Bay View, closed but was later revived by the Nehring family. Glorioso’s and Rupena’s Fine Foods are still in business and still family owned.

Lena’s Food Market, started in 1965 by Bezelee Martin, at one time had five locations serving Milwaukee’s Black community. Martin died July 27, 2021. According to his obituary in the Milwaukee Times, “At one time, Lena’s was the largest Black grocery store chain in the U.S.”

The near South Side, once dominated by Polish immigrants, had grocers like The Sausage Cart. Today, Polish cheese and sausage can still be found at A & J Polish Deli, on Lincoln Avenue. El Rey opened its first location on Sixteenth Street (now Cesar E. Chavez Dr.) in 1978 and has grown to become the largest Hispanic grocery store in the area with four locations.

In 1982, few people knew the term falafel, but now Middle Eastern grocers are not difficult to find, such as Holyland Grocery & Deli or Attari Supermarket on the South Side. Indian/South Asian grocers include Bharat Mart on the East Side and Indian Groceries & Spices in Wauwatosa.

Asian grocers can be found throughout the area, such as Milwaukee Asian Market on the North Side, Pacific Produce on the South Side and Mei Hua Market in West Allis. Small African grocers such as Adom African Market, J & S African Center and Lisabi African Market offer African foods, spices and health and beauty products.

Russian Foods & Gifts, on Oakland Avenue, has imported Russian foods and spirits to Milwaukee since 2007. Cermak, a chain supermarket with two locations in Milwaukee, carries foods from more than 15 countries, reflecting the global influences that grace today’s tables.

In 1982, we washed down our food with PBR, Schlitz or a Steidl’s or Bartles & James wine cooler. These days, suds from craft brewers, wine from Portugal, Chile or Australia, or exotic cocktails accompany our meals. What will the next 40 years bring to our tables? Whatever it is, I’m eager to find out, and wash it down with a glass of vino from the next up-and-coming wine region.