Meanwhile, supermarket industry sales rose just 2 percent last year, after adjusting for inflation. Sixty percent of individual stores showed no growth at all. Then came Hamburger Helper. The rice or pasta, sauce and seasoning come in a box. Add meat and, with 5 minutes of preparation, the casserole is supposed to be ready in half an hour.
Food has to be quick and easy.
It has to be healthy. Hormel Foods has a line of precooked meat dishes including meat loaf with tomato sauce, beef brisket and sliced pork. Suzanne Weeder Einspahr, a food industry consultant at the University of Nebraska, considers herself one of the last scratch cooks. But even she occasionally buys prepared meat dishes. I've tried a few.