Back when Americans still were almost 100% operating under the stupid protein myths (these days, I think it is a least a little better, but there has been a huge rise in marketing protein to people as if they aren’t getting enough, lol, so I really don’t know if people have a better grasp of nutrition now or not, even with easily-available information sources now online. Back then, spotting a vegetarian in the wild outside of major metro areas, anyway, was like spotting Bigfoot and the very concept of not eating meat was something that made most people’s brains short out.) and virtually everyone thought you needed a big portion of some meat on your plate… my boomer parents were trying to scrape by, they would have liver about once or twice a week to make ends meet.

It wasn’t until a bit later when they read a bit more about vegetarianism that they realized they could easily sub in things like beans/rice to round out meals and not only was it far safer and a lot less disgusting, it was cheaper and had an incredibly long shelf life. And they didn’t have to worry about the family being malnourished or anything.