The CRAM Podcast ~ Extraordinary Ideas Unleashed

Cheetos, chips and chocolate: Why do we hate to love junk food?

Mary Ito Season 1 Episode 106

What’s your favourite snack?

Is it gummy worms?  Maybe a bag of salt and vinegar chips?  Or how about a bowl of your favourite ice cream? 

In Canada, we are a nation of snackers.  Surveys show about 80% of us have at least one snack a day.   

But our relationship with snack foods is a complicated one.  

We often feel guilty when we snack.  And we even refer to junk food as a “guilty pleasure.”   

But why all the guilt?  Aside from the health implications, why is there such a strong stigma around snack foods?  And who gets to decide what is a snack or junk food? 

Historian Janis Thiessen has a fascinating look into why snack foods are “loved and reviled.”

Now go grab some popcorn and listen!


INFO ON GUEST:

Janis Thiessen is a Professor of History at the University of Winnipeg.  She’s the author of “Snacks: A Canadian Food History.”  For more on Janis and her books:  https://janisthiessen.ca/about/ 

The Manitoba Food History Project https://www.manitobafoodhistory.ca/


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