The meat and veg complex: food and national progress in Australian print media, 1930–1965

Abstract

Plain, British-derived cookery appeared increasingly old hat in 1950s and 1960s Australia. In contrast to the culinary novelties introduced by European migration and an expanding consumer economy, ‘meat and three veg’-style cooking symbolised the staid prewar past. However, the gastronomic ‘coming of age’ celebrated by post-war journalists, and its associated narrative of national cultural progress, had been rehearsed by prewar advocates of culinary reform. Columnists in 1930s, particularly in the newspaper ‘women's pages’, urged Australian culinary progress within broader debates on nutrition, population health, cultural development and national identity. This rhetoric of progress and maturation continues to influence perceptions of mid-twentieth century Australian food history.This article has been peer reviewed.