Why Americans Just Can’t Quit Their Microwaves

For millions of American college students, the first taste of adult freedom comes in a bite of Stouffer’s French Bread Pizza or a salty slurp from a Cup Noodles. Hemmed in by fire-safety rules and tight budgets, dorm dwellers have long embraced such microwaved delicacies, honing cook times in shared lounges with low-powered appliances balanced atop mini fridges. When I was in school, my first microwaved drug of choice was Kraft Easy Mac, a mid-2000s classic, which gave way to Lean Cuisines and Smart Ones dinners once fluorescent cheese powder started weirding me out.

Microwaves, of course, are not just the province of broke young adults. The device has put forth a broadly tempting bargain for decades: fast, inexpensive, hot food, if you’re willing to sacrifice a bit in taste and texture. In the in the frozen-food market and microwave sales. From 2009 to 2014, the diet-meal giant Lean Cuisine lost a quarter of its sales. Some people .