Kraft Dinner, America's Boxed Child

An American describing their culture is like an adolescent writing their autobiography. The themes come from older family members and teachers, leaving little room for originality. American cuisine illustrates this—our main dishes, such as pizza, seem to be borrowed from our progenitors in Europe and elsewhere.

There is one big exception, a meal that is uniquely American in its invention, and has become a microcosm of the American story.

That meal is Kraft Dinner.

The Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Dinner, I propose, perfectly encapsulates the American nation and the American culture, and reflects our experience as we grow into a mature people. Its changes through the years follow the trajectory of American culture writ large. Its defining traits are the defining traits of America.

To me, Kraft Dinner is America in a box. That statement is cheesy, but also true.

Kraft mac and cheese, like America, was born from a need. Necessity is indeed its mother. History tells us that America was created by English refugees fleeing landlessness, just as Kraft Dinner was created by industrialists trying to capitalize on Depression-era poverty, and then bought by citizens fleeing the hunger that this poverty created. In their youth, both focused on efficiency and economics. They were both made possible and affordable by new technological advances. Whereas the steam engine made it possible to spread America and its comforts across the continent, the emulsified processed cheese designed by James Lewis Kraft made pasta and cheese affordable at grocery stores across the states.

America, after growing fat on industrial, colonial, and imperial thrusts, decided it needed to lose some weight to be healthy. We gave independence to some colonies, and began to have fewer children per family. In typical American style, Kraft Dinner focused on spreading itself first, then worried about health afterward. It focused on becoming a household name, then, when its customers grew fat, it provided alternative prep instructions using low fat milk and less butter. One might say that the extra butter was Kraft Dinner’s Philippines.

When America decided that its health demanded more respect for the natural world, it created the Environmental Protection Agency, and decided that organic foodstuffs were a national priority. Our boxed dinner child again followed our lead. In 2013, the traditional Yellow 5 dye, that eerily bright artificial yellow that I knew as a child, was replaced with annatto, paprika, and turmeric. The yellow is now a bit more muted, but the gooey deliciousness is intact. Kraft Dinner, as always, reflected our changing priorities as a people—the pesticide-free apples in the fruit aisle might not look as flawless, but they’re healthier and still delicious. Visual appeal should perhaps be subordinate to environmental and medical health. Kraft and America both checked the encroachment of industry on the natural world, since one depends on the other, and not vice versa.

So Kraft mac and cheese grew up like America grew up, but like America, its core characteristics are enduring and timeless.

What does America value, in all of its phases?

Egalitarianism.

Liberty.

Comfort and convenience.

Kraft mac and cheese exemplifies all of these traits.

Egalitarianism in particular is rooted in America’s cultural genes. Our founding documents proclaim that all men are created equal, and all have the same rights.

Similarly, Kraft Dinner from its conception was a symbol of egalitarianism and the emancipation of the working class. Its efficiency and affordability made higher living standards possible for workers. However, it isn’t a food forsaken by the wealthy. Like pizza, it is enjoyed by rich and poor alike. When the Barenaked Ladies sang about how their lives would change if they were rich, they made sure to point out that they would still eat Kraft Dinner:

“If I had a million dollars, we wouldn’t have to eat Kraft Dinner.”

“But we would eat Kraft Dinner.”

“Of course we would, we’d just eat more.”

America also stands for liberty—sometimes this means liberty from tyranny, and sometimes it means liberty from tedious labor and traditional class limitations. Thanks to Mr. Kraft, the working man doesn’t need to afford natural cheese to make a hearty, cheesy dinner for his family. He doesn’t need to worry about natural cheese molding or expiring in his refrigerator. Kraft Dinner liberated the kitchen from the threat of expiration dates!

Kraft Dinner also liberated many working mothers from an impossible dilemma—career or motherhood? America’s love affair with liberated women wasn’t only theoretical. We marshalled our technology to solve their practical problems, and thanks to dehydrated cheese, Mom could come home from the office and still make daily dinner for her children.

And of course, the overt and covert American obsession—comfort, convenience, ease. In America, change is constant, and it makes us dizzy sometimes. To balance this, America has certain constants, certain reliable comforts, which we all embrace to create a sense of permanence and durability. When the pace of our technological growth makes our heads spin, America always has another election, another beautiful countryside, another Thanksgiving feast, another financial bull run for the Wall Street nerds, to provide us with continuity and comfort. Though change is a constant, some things never change.

Just like America the Beautiful, we can rely on Kraft Dinner to comfort us with the same pleasant feelings and tastes year after year. Kraft fills our mouths with pleasant gooey goodness, and America makes life hopeful and promising. Kraft Dinner and America both promise us a cure for poverty, a cure for boredom, and a cure for drudgery. Kraft Dinner, like America, makes our current problems irrelevant, and pleases the parts of our brain that hope and dream and fantasize.

The recipe, printed on billions of boxes nationwide, is as follows:

Kraft mac & cheese – Classic Prep

Ingredients

One box of Kraft mac and cheese, with macaroni and cheese mix packet

6 cups water

4 tbsp margarine or butter (butter preferred)

¼ cup milk

Cooking Instructions

1. Boil water in medium saucepan

2. Stir in macaroni; cook 7-8 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally

3. Drain, do not rinse, return to pan. (Note: this is best done in a strainer)

4. Add margarine or butter, milk & cheese sauce mix; mix well (Note: this is best done in a pan over low heat)

*To prepare with less fat:

Prepare as directed, using 2 Tbsp. margarine or butter and ¼ cup fat-free milk.