American tastes changed vs Japanese and European tastes after World War II. The veterans coming home had eaten lots of canned food and other non-perishables while the Europeans and Japanese citizens had to eat what they could find locally and seasonally. It's had a lasting impact.
This finally explains the difference between one grandmother's cooking (Depression-era home cooking from scratch) and my other (younger) grandmother's cooking (Post-WW2 TV dinners and frozen vegetables.)
Citation needed! (Actually, this is the first time I'd ever heard of this idea and I would greatly appreciate any additional reading material you could point me to.)
