The Meatloaf Family

If your childhood was anything like mine, meatloaf was a frequent choice for dinner and for many good reasons. Meatloaf is one of the most well-known, all-American comfort foods and has been around for thousands of years, yet has only become really popular among families in that past century specifically during the Great Depression. Meatloaf is so popular because it’s cheap to make and is versatile made widespread through working class families who are considered “blue-collar”, which is why this dish relates to my family exemplified though the socioeconomic conditions my mom experienced growing up on a farm meatloaf was a popular meal with her family and has stuck with our family for generations. Growing up my mom and her siblings had limited
opportunities when it came to food because they weren’t a wealthy family and were raised on farm where there weren’t any supermarkets or grocery stores nearby so they had to either choose between meat that they had butchered or vegetables they grew when deciding what to eat. My mom began cooking for her family when she was a teenager because many times her parents would be busy farming until late, according to my mom she started making meatloaf because it was cheap to get all the ingredients needed and could fill up everyone leaving everyone satisfied. Ever since she began cooking it for her family it has been a popular dish on her side of the family and has continued to be a well-liked meal with our family. One point that I have mentioned for why meatloaf has been a dish that has stood the test of time with both my mom and dad side of my family is that they both grew up as working class, my dads father was in the military and moved around a lot and my moms side of the family all lived in rural areas my mom said that a reason that both sides of the family both cooked meatloaf frequently was because the parents had little time to actually cook for their families due to long work hours and meatloaf is very cheap to make almost everyone can afford the ingredients and meatloaf lasts longer than steak or ribs would so their families could reheat and eat it again for another meal.
This makes this dish a very resourceful meal that allows families on the lower end of the wealth spectrum to both eat every night and to fulfill their hunger
needs. After researching the origins of meatloaf I found out that it originated in Europe during the medieval times but wasn’t the meatloaf that we recognize today, that didn’t come until the industrial revolution when the meat grinder was invented.
Meatloaf didn’t become prevalent dish until the Great Depression due to the high rates of unemployment because of the stock market crash leaving millions of people hungry and in search for cheap food alternatives to feed their families. “The notion of meatloaf as comfort food stems from its frequent appearance in this period. Warm and filling, it provided cheap, nourishing sustenance. “ (theatlantic) during the 1930s people started buying more processed and canned foods such as “bread and crackers, quick-cooking oats, tapioca, breakfast cereal, and powdered sauce mixes could pad out a meatloaf, and condiments such as mustard, bouillon, canned soup, and Heinz ketchup added flavor and moistness at small cost. “ (theatlantic). This led manufacturers to position meatloaf recipes on the back of certain products in order to increase sales. Meatloafs popularity continued into the 50s and 60s focusing on making meatloaf more creative making it popular with housewives and in blue-collar homes.
(citation) The information I found regarding meatloaf and its major social impact on millions of people show that it is in fact a dish that was utilized by people in economic downturn and that it was a great way to feed your family while saving money. This relates to my mom’s family because she was too a person who grew up in a place that did not boast a large amount of income so she did the best she could do with the resources that were available and this has impacted our family even today because we still eat meatloaf even though we can afford to eat better/higher quality food.