We take a lot of things for granted, especially when it comes to food. Meals and groceries can be delivered to our doorstep with a push of a button. Social media has made it even easier to discover new and exciting recipes. And we can find nearly every ingredient we could possibly want—either in standard supermarkets or online.

But that wasn't always the case. Before agricultural technology and international free trade agreements changed the way we eat, our options were much slimmer. I don't know any different (because I'm technically Gen Z), but my parents have told me about the sad canned and frozen vegetables of their youth that aren't nearly as popular today.

However, one viral Reddit thread illuminated how different our food systems used to be. In the subreddit r/AskOldPeople, a user posed the question: "What foods didn't exist 30-40 years ago that are everywhere now that would shock young people?" And the answers were honestly, well, shocking.

I rounded up some of the most fascinating examples of foods that were once uncommon but are now everywhere—and in some cases, they've even replaced once-popular items. Can you think of any others? Let us know in the comments.

Tofu

Salad Greens, Out Of Season & Tropical Produce, Bottled Water, Naturally Colored Pistachios, Specialty Coffee, Seedless Fruit

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You can find tofu on shelves in virtually every supermarket, and you can even choose between multiple brands and different levels of firmness. But that was not the case several decades ago. "Thirty years ago you’d have to go to those special stores to find anything like that," one Reddit user wrote. "And supermarkets had maybe one vegetarian option for 'meat replacement' if you were lucky."

Health-conscious natural food stores and supermarkets in East Asian enclaves were once the only places to find tofu before it became more popular among other communities.

Salad Greens

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For a good chunk of the 20th century, the lettuce options were largely limited to iceberg. You could theoretically find other types of greens—just not ones that you were meant to eat. "I worked a salad bar in the 1980s and we used kale as a garnish between the bowls, and we were expected to re-use the kale for days," one user shared. "I was blown away when I learned, much later, that people EAT kale."

People in proximity to a home garden may have had more exposure to different types of greens, but many Americans were stuck with a limited definition of what salad could be. "The only salads I was ever offered as a kid were made of iceberg and drenched in ranch," another user added. "Made me absolutely hate salad until I grew up and discovered spinach and balsamic vinaigrette."

Out Of Season & Tropical Produce

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No matter what time of year it is, you can find almost any fruit or vegetable you could possibly need at the grocery store. But older generations were stuck with whatever was in season and whatever was grown nearby, which meant options were slim.

Several users reminisced about receiving oranges in their Christmas stockings because fresh citrus was a rare treat outside of warm coastal areas. The same went for any fruits or vegetables grown in tropical climates outside of the U.S. Avocados, mangoes, and pineapples were all rare finds stateside. But the fruit that Reddit users mentioned the most is kiwi.

"I remember when kiwis first started appearing," one user wrote. "Everyone was like...what is that?" Another user shared that people were scared to try them in 1977. Redditors are happy to have access to more fruits than they did in their childhood, but they lament that the flavor quality is far worse than when they were only local and seasonal.

Bottled Water

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Users in the Reddit thread argued that people drink much more water now than they did several decades ago. Unless you were near a sink, a hose, or a water fountain, drinking water was not common. "I remember when they first started talking about drinking 8 glasses of water a day and nobody could manage," one user wrote. "When I was a kid, teen, young adult, it was unfathomable. Where are people finding all [this] water and time to drink it?"

In fact, bottled water as a concept was perceived as a ridiculous waste of money. "I didn’t have a bottle of water until I left for college in 1998," another user added. "I remember thinking how silly and wealthy it seemed."

Hummus

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Hummus is a staple dip now, but it was virtually nonexistent in American grocery stores until the end of the 20th century. "I have no memory of hummus pre 1990," one user admitted. Another Redditor agreed, chiming in with, "I remember the first time I ate hummus in 1992."

One person’s first exposure to hummus was actually in a 1996 episode of "Friends." By the early aughts, hummus’s popularity exploded and became a mass-produced product sold in grocery stores everywhere.

Naturally Colored Pistachios

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You may associate pistachios now with the vibrant green hue that you’d find in the center of a Dubai chocolate bar. But several decades ago, the nuts did not come in the hue you know today. "For all of my childhood they were dyed a very bright red," one Redditor wrote. "When you ate them your hands and mouth would turn red too."

Up until 1979, pistachios in the U.S. were largely sourced from Iran. But because they were harvested the traditional way without immediately hulling and washing the shells, they would develop unappetizing stains that would be covered with red dye. Once the Iranian revolution halted pistachio imports to the States, American producers began to dominate the market and processed the nuts in a way that didn’t require artificial coloring.

Specialty Coffee

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With flavored cold foams, artisanal pour-overs, and nitro cold brew, there are more ways to enjoy coffee than ever. That wasn’t the case several decades ago, when coffee options were largely limited to regular and decaf. "We just had coffee, and some people added their own cream and sugar," one Redditor wrote. "Imagine that!"

"I worked at Dunkin' in the mid-90s and it was a BIG DAY when they brought in Hazelnut and Vanilla flavored coffee. Not creamer but actual coffee," another added. "Then, an even BIGGER DAY when we had to make room for the Coffee Coolatta machines!"

Seedless Fruit

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Today, seedless varieties of fruit are the standard at grocery stores, and producers are constantly using agricultural technology to develop new types of fruit without seeds. But this is a relatively new phenomenon, according to Redditors.

"Navel oranges were the first seedless oranges and they were quite a novelty," one wrote. Others cited grapes as another prime example. Seedless fruit is certainly easier to eat, but many people in the thread argued that the change wasn’t a net positive. "I wish you could still find seeded watermelon. It tastes so much better than seedless," one user lamented. "They’ve managed to breed out the seeds but it seems the flavor went with them."