Most of us have, hidden deep inside, at least a touch of American exceptionalism. Yet we routinely let other people—faceless schemers in skyscrapers or industrial parks—determine what we eat. Are we lazy?

A hundred years ago, you cooked and you ate. You didn’t claim to be a vegetarian or a carnivore or a locavore. There was barely any marketing, and national brands were nonexistent. Fat, carbs, protein weren’t bad or good; they were food. Hardly anything contained more than one ingredient, because everything was an ingredient. How did we get so off course?