“The distinction is not that people have restricted diets,” she said. “It’s their attitude about whose responsibility it is to meet their dietary needs.”

But where are all of the atomized eating habits coming from? Do these diners have anything in common, apart from ownership of single-serve Tupperware? Unlike the diet fads of yesteryear (Atkins, Zone, South Beach and countless others), many contemporary eating styles speak directly to values and virtues, aiming to affirm your ethos rather than nuking your love handles.

Today’s restricted eaters are prone to identity-driven pronouncements along the lines of “I’m gluten free.” (It’s worth nothing that, back in the aughts, no one declared “I’m Atkins!” Except, quite possibly, Dr. Robert Atkins himself.)

Consumers seem to be building self through sustenance, adjusting their appetites to reflect independence and moral character. In numerous interviews with restricted-diet adherents and those who study and feed them, control and identity were two common themes on everyone’s lips.

“It’s an alternative way of finding an identity in a place where identity is increasingly uncertain,” said Richard Wilk, the director of Indiana University’s doctoral program in food studies. “So much of our lives are completely out of our control. You can go to college and not get a job. You can do an internship and not get a job. The economy takes some new tack every 15 minutes.”