Food choices reflect financial conditions

Home cooking, familiar brands gain in popularity during recession

Chicago Tribune, January 24, 2009 — In the grocery aisles and in kitchens across the country, old school is increasingly in, courtesy of the recession and higher food prices.

Less-expensive comfort foods and classic brands—think Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and Hormel's Spam canned meat—are doing bang-up business. White flour and dried beans are hot items as more Americans are making foods from scratch.

And the supermarket sales category with the highest annual growth rate as of early November was—get this—canning and freezing supplies, according to market researcher Nielsen Co.