At the Table. Italians and food from 1945 to the long eigthies

The transformations of the gastronomic culture and the Italian diet from 1945 until the «long eighties», that is, the period between the end of the seventies and the beginning of the nineties. A time when Italy became an industrial country and the Italians a people of consumers.
How do you change food consumption? How do you update the concepts of pleasure and taste? When exactly does food become a lifestyle? An exciting narrative through the main historical events and costume phenomena of the second half of the twentieth century.
The essay analyzes the forms and structures of gastronomic communication, focusing on two magazines (La Cucina Italiana and La Gola) and the changes that occurred in the eighties, both in the editorial content and in the audience of the two magazines. These have been years of strong change in the social and economic structure of the country, but also in the gastronomic culture. The variety of food products, «the industrialization of food» linked to new forms of consumption for the time (snacks, the end of the midday meal, frozen products, eating out), sensitivity to medical issues-contribute to radically changing food culture. Food acquires a strong identity and begins from then, to be conceived as a theme of sure interest to the general public.
The neglected eighties have sedimented more deeply rooted resources and customs than is commonly thought.