There’s also a cost factor: a Teflon pan will be considerably cheaper, and most people don’t factor in the service life. Once you’re used to something you usually replace it with the same thing.

The other trend was Nixon pushing low fat diets. By the time actual scientific results debunked that, a generation of Americans had adjusted recipes to avoid using as much fat as you need to cook optimally in cast iron and it’s still common to find people using techniques which pretty much require non-stick.