Post-war food prejudices: inheritance or survival?

Post-war food prejudices?

Is it true that people over 50 carry food hang-ups inherited from the scarcity of the post-war years? The debate centres on everyday examples: white bread as a status symbol, legumes as a poor man's dish, or kissing the bread before putting it on the table. But are these really prejudices or survival mechanisms?

Those who defend the rationality of these habits point out that white bread was preferred not out of luxury, but for safety: wholemeal flour was easier to adulterate with sawdust. In times of hunger, the quality of wheat was doubtful. White bread guaranteed you were not being cheated. A logic of distrust, not snobbery.

On the other hand, phrases like "don't leave anything on your plate because of the children in Africa" or picking up food within three seconds of dropping it are seen as remnants of a scarcity mindset that no longer applies. The grandmother who kisses the bread before placing it on the table is performing the ritual of a generation that lived through famine.

The debate is not black and white. Home cooking and the rejection of ready meals, which many defend as virtues, could also be seen by others as prejudices of another era. The truth is that, if the current crisis tightens, these habits may become the norm again. And then, prejudice or pragmatism?