The Return of Depression Era Food: It's "was the ritual of celebrating rather than the actual ingredients."

If you're from Wisconsin, you've got to appreciate the great meal prepared below.

The above laughable(?) result of a recipe someone thought was a great idea appeared in this "timely" story about depression era recipes. jsonline: 

Nearly everyone is a food historian when it comes to the Great Depression. Stories about meager meals are passed down through the years. 

Bruce Kraig, a bona fide food historian, is president of the Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance, the group that hosted a weekend symposium, from April 29 to May 1, on the food and the food culture of the Great Depression at Kendall College in Chicago. 

According to Whitney Lingle, who has studied oral and written recipes from the 1930s, that was the time for a nice crown roast of Spam. Or perhaps a crown roast of frankfurters filled - like the one that was on display at the symposium - with spaetzle and sauerkraut. Lingle said that during the Depression what was important "was the ritual of celebrating rather than the actual ingredients."