The food industry pays ‘influencer’ dietitians to shape your eating habits

I'm convinced there is a similar campaign going on to promote the disgusting plastic wrapped individual slices of American "cheese".

I grew up believing I hated cheeseburgers, since that was the only cheese available at family cookouts and at the fast food restaurants. I really only realized how terrible things like Kraft singles were after I started cooking and buying my own ingredients.

There are a massive amount of mediocre to absolutely terrible recipes on the internet. However, there are a few individuals and groups that consistently post high quality recipes, recipes that when I make them for other people they often say its "the best version of (X)" they've ever had. Yet in a lot of recent videos involving burgers or any kind of melted cheese on a sandwich I've been seeing a lot of recommendations to "not be fussy" and just use a Kraft single or some other disgusting plastic wrapped cheese because "it was created to melt". Implying that somehow the most difficult part of the sandwich is getting swiss, provolone, muenster, or any other halfway decent cheese, to melt. Most notably Kenji Lopez consistently recommends it, but I've seen it cropping up in other's recipes.

Maybe I just have a particular hate for that "cheese" and it is just me. But I don't know of anyone who actually would prefer it on their food, just people who won't complain if that is there only option. The actual market for it seems like its just made up of fast food places buying the cheapest cheese possible, cheap relatives that have been placed in charge of getting toppings for the burgers for a cookout, and parents making school lunches for children they don't think will know the difference. It is just really making me question why such high quality recipe outlets would suddenly recommend such a bottom of the barrel ingredient. The same outlets that often times ask the reader to spend the money/time to not substitute or leave out higher quality ingredients. The American cheese isn't even that much cheaper than much better alternatives unless you're buying in bulk.

This article really offers the only reason I can think of for the sudden increase in recommendations for it.