The shifting preference patterns around cheese type are very tangible. In my own case, my kids have never had the kind of individually plastic-wrapped processed orange cheese slices that I grew up with. No Velveeta style either (unless it was on nachos at a fair).
And we mostly buy domestic cheeses, of which there are many suppliers who make higher quality varieties. Tillamook, Cabot come to mind, and one of my favorites, Milton Creamery's Prairie Breeze Cheddar.
Apart from these cheeses being objectively tastier than the cheese of my childhood, the power of social trends is strong, and people across the country have taken on to the "whole" foods trope in the past several years, no doubt urged along by the influence of celebrity chefs and new cuisines that have entered the US via immigration.
Interest in higher quality food is one of things that, despite polarization in other spheres, has become fairly consistent between the coasts and the middle of the country.
And we mostly buy domestic cheeses, of which there are many suppliers who make higher quality varieties. Tillamook, Cabot come to mind, and one of my favorites, Milton Creamery's Prairie Breeze Cheddar.
Apart from these cheeses being objectively tastier than the cheese of my childhood, the power of social trends is strong, and people across the country have taken on to the "whole" foods trope in the past several years, no doubt urged along by the influence of celebrity chefs and new cuisines that have entered the US via immigration.
Interest in higher quality food is one of things that, despite polarization in other spheres, has become fairly consistent between the coasts and the middle of the country.