Are we that small a demographic?

[dickens]

As you may be aware, I'm in the habit of reading practically anything that Michael Pollan writes.

But I have to admit, I bounced off his latest essay in the NY Times Magazine. On page 3, someone who studies people's eating habits says that 'scratch cooking' is so rare that they don't even ask about it in surveys, they consider 'cooking' anything that requires the assembly of ingredients (so lettuce w/ dressing or a sandwich count) and that cooking is vanishing from American life because "no one would know how to do it anymore".

I think both of them have been stuck in some sort of restaurant dominated twilight zone.

On my live journal, most weeks I read about something that one of you all is cooking, and it all sounds good.
Heck, how do kitchen stores stay in business if no one cooks?
Why were the last few cooking classes I took full?
Do the produce and meat sections of grocery stores occupy the same mental space as gym memberships (something people pay for but never use?)
How come I can still buy canning supplies if no one else uses them?
Why do I have to make sure to get fresh cranberries days before Thanksgiving if no one besides me makes their own sauce?

Or are we all just weirdos? (Okay, I suppose we are, but in this particular sense?)

Comments

[laffingbuddha.livejournal.com]

Hrmmmm, I started reading his essay and then got distracted with other things. I cook because it is something that I enjoy and it's cheaper and probably better for me in the long run. I have to admit it DOES take effort. I probably spend several hours in a given week planning my menus, shopping and preparing. Sometimes I do cut corners and rely more on pantry type things like jar sauces and dry pasta but that is usually the exception and not the rule. Food is so integral to our lives we HAVE to eat. I make a conscious choise to eat well and to eat creatively. That's why I love Mark Bittman, he helps me to think with a mindset. I love canning too but sometimes that's a bunch of effort too. The benefits do outweigh the costs. Mostly.