Processed Foods

Convenience, Conviction, and the Food We’re Sold

In the first act of Robert Altman’s 3 Women (1977), Millie—the rail-thin, monologue-prone character played by Shelley Duvall—talks about recipes the way some people talk about religion: with total confidence and a little sparkle in her eye. She describes her personal recipe system, the equivalent of a Rolodex organized not by ingredient or dish, but by cook time. She’s proud of it, like she’s cracked a code other people missed. And judging by the endless modern stream of internet lists with titles like “15 Easy Chicken Dinners You Can Make in Just 10 Minutes,” she wasn’t wrong about the appeal.

But what’s most striking about Millie’s recipe chatter isn’t the organization—it’s what’s inside the recipes.

Almost everything she describes depends on processed, packaged ingredients: powdered Parmesan cheese, canned biscuits, spray cheese, store-bought tarts filled with canned chocolate pudding. And in the film’s unforgettable extended dinner-party preparation scene—where pigs in a blanket are the headliners—the jewel of the spread is premade shrimp cocktail, ready to serve with the flip of a lid. It’s one of the great scenes about food that never actually gets eaten, and it’s oddly revealing. This isn’t just cooking. It’s performance.

We can’t pretend it’s surprising, watching a movie made in 1977, to see a young woman absolutely sold on the wonders of “convenience foods.” Anyone who’s flipped through old copies of Better Homes and Gardens knows the era’s tone: bright, efficient, confident. Companies like Frito-Lay and Crisco invested heavily in recipe development, printing pamphlets that Millie could’ve received free just by mailing in a coupon from a magazine ad. It’s easy to imagine her recipe Rolodex featuring something like Marathon’s “Dinner Table Picnics,” complete with “16 Delicious Weiner Recipes,” filed neatly under the shortest cook times.

What’s more striking is Millie’s innocence—her sincere belief that these are the right recipes. The grown-up recipes. The recipes that will do what recipes are apparently supposed to do: lead, as she says brightly and without irony, to a man’s heart.

And then you remember: 1977 wasn’t just the year 3 Women came out. It was also the year the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs—led by Senator George McGovern—published the first two editions of Dietary Goals for the United States. Those goals would inform the first Dietary Guidelines for Americans three years later, urging people to “Eat a variety of foods,” with special emphasis on fruits and vegetables (and a nod to legumes).

So here’s the question Altman never asks on screen, but the film quietly sets up anyway: if Millie had those guidelines in her hands, would she change?

Would she swap onion powder and celery salt for real onion and celery in her tuna melts? Would she start seeing “fresh” as something other than a garnish? Or would she stay under the spell of the era’s advertising—like the Light n’ Lively Kraft Singles ad singing, “We put in cream but kept it lean!” or McDonald’s bragging that a Big Mac, strawberry shake, and fries could cover more than half your daily protein needs (and, somehow, touting vitamin C like a moral credential)?

Altman’s film doesn’t answer. (Shockingly, the Senate committee never makes an appearance.) But 3 Women does remind us of something easy to forget now, when we treat processed food as an obvious villain: for a long time, it wasn’t just food. It was a promise. It was modern life. It was what successful people did.

And that’s the superpower of old-school advertising: it didn’t just sell products—it sold certainty. It sold an identity. It sold the idea that if you followed the directions, your life would come out right.

Because honestly: how else do you talk people into eating stuff that was, frankly, gross?

Amuse-Bouche: New Mexico on the James Beard Semifinalist List

Scroll through the semifinalists for the 2026 James Beard Foundation awards and you get a quick glimpse of how deep the talent pool is—and how brutal the competition can be. Still, a number of New Mexicans landed on the list, including Bow & Arrow Brewing Co., The Burque Bakehouse, Daydream Rum Bar, and Steve Riley of Mesa Provisions (all in Albuquerque); Graham Dodds of NOSA in Ojo Caliente; and Danny Calleros of Ardovino’s Crossing in Sunland Park.

Entrances & Exits: Openings, Closings, and Changes Across the State

• Buen Provecho in Albuquerque just held the grand opening for its second location in Barelas.
• Downtown Albuquerque is getting a New York diner concept: David Kaufman of Kaufman’s Coffee & Bagels is teaming up with Humble Coffee to open Kaufman’s Diner next door to the 505 Central Food Hall, with knishes, blintzes, and matzo ball soup alongside espresso drinks.
• La Montañita Food Co-op is closing its Rio Grande location; remaining stock is at least 40 percent off (though some staples were already wiped out). The new store is slated to open at Twelfth and Menaul in February.
• Tap N Taco, a Rio Rancho taqueria, is opening an Albuquerque spot in an old bank building at 4301 Wyoming NE.
• The owner of the Cocina Azul locations on Holly and Montgomery has purchased the former Sobremesa space on the Westside. It’s expected to reopen as Blue Mesa, with plans for twenty-seven margaritas, local-brewery beer, and familiar New Mexican classics like chile rellenos.
• In Santa Fe, winter breaks are ending and doors are reopening: Horno is back Monday, promising specials inspired by travels in Mexico City.
• Also in Santa Fe, Chef Marc Quiñones’s winter residency at La Fonda on the Plaza has evolved into a full-time position.
• Hot Dawgin, the Rinconada food truck split between Italian beef sandwiches and Frito pies, is reopened for the season.
• In Taos, longtime owners Gin and Hiromi Hattori have retired and Sushi la Hattori closed late last year—but their sushi chef, Gustavo, has opened O’Hashi Sushi with a new partner in the upstairs space that used to house Mondo Italiano at 832 Paseo del Pueblo Sur.

Occasions: Mark the Calendar

• February 5: The Stakeout in Taos hosts Alpine Wine & Dine, with guest chefs that include Zak Pelaccio and Stella Achenbach of Leo’s in Santa Fe, plus Zach Wade of Cosmica (Salt Lake City). Austrian wines, Tyrolean food, and mountain views.
• That dinner is part of the Taos Winter Wine Fest (February 5–7), which includes seminars, grand tastings, and additional wine dinners—like an evening at The Love Apple featuring Amevive wines from Santa Barbara.
• Saturday, February 7: The Southwest Organizing Project hosts Spreading the Love of Chile at 3400 Ross Ave SE in Albuquerque, featuring chile processing, chile making, and conversation about cultural traditions.
• February 10: Canteen Brewery’s Cake and Beer event pairs four beer samples with four cake bites, plus a pint of your choice, for $25.

Distillations: Worth Reading

• Some people claim Frito-Lay invented the Frito pie via its mid-century recipe pamphlets, but local historian Ty Bannerman reached a different conclusion while investigating the dish for The Bite.
• Elissa Suh of Moviepudding considers “3 Women and Canned Convenience.”
• Sarah Mock, a frequent contributor to edible New Mexico, covers Albuquerque’s increasingly diverse dining scene for Condé Nast Traveler.