My Husband's Views on Modern American "Home Cooking"

My husband recently started college, again. This is an essay that he wrote for an assignment on fundamental skills that everyone should have. His personal choices was either cooking (bless him) or building computers. I'm glad he choose cooking. "Cooking," he just said, "was , honestly, an easier argument."

Cooking is Fundamental

I feel that one of the most fundamental skills that seems to have fallen to the wayside through the last few generations in America is that of cooking. I feel that the two main reasons cooking is becoming a lost art is women joining the workforce and the advent of fast food. These factors have contributed to the erosion of the American family's ability to feed themselves.

I feel that World War Two in effect started a chain reaction that has helped contribute to our nations inability to cook. During the war a tremendous number of men were sent to Europe, and as a result women were needed to come into the work force in numbers not seen since World War One. The difference between these changes is that because of the advances in womens rights after the first world war women were even less inclined to work again under the mantle of being the quiet house domestic that men had grown to expect and demand from them. I do not dismiss the role that World War One played in these events, however I feel that while it primed society, it was in fact the second war that created the opportunity to make permanent changes to our nations social structure for women in the work place. The only downside to this in my opinion is, that while granting women equal rights to live, work and be independent which are all essential, it unfortunately left men lost. Men have as a whole very rarely learned much of the mysteries of the kitchen, and as more and more women left to fill their dreams and the job markets men had no one to turn too for good food.

There is some irony in that most professional chefs are actually male, that number pales in light of the larger number of men who do not know how to cook. It also seems strange in my opinion, that women overall have still a higher social expectation to be able to cook, however run into a lot of prejudices and social biases when they attempt to do so professionally.

I feel that it is a reaction to less women in the kitchens of America that gave rise to fast food. From burger stands to corner stores to full restaurant chains Americans have allowed corporations such as White Castle, Wendy's, Macdonald's and Burger King and countless others to fulfill our need to eat. Not to say all food bought out is fast food, there is still a thriving market for diners, deli's and buffets as well as actual sit-down restaurants. However these too contribute to the decline of the American palate as well as increasing the dependency we have for others to feed us. As it is only in the fanciest of restaurants that chefs prepare quality food that truly speaks to what good food actually is.

Now competing with the corporate control of our eating, company's that still produce products for grocery stores have also adapted. More and more often food is found prepared for consumers. They are removing the need for knowledge of how to cook, and replacing it with simple instructions, or with having fully prepared foods on the shelves. At it's current trend I would not be at all surprised if homes start being designed without ovens and stoves. As sad as it is to say, I feel for many ignorant Americans these tools are becoming obsolete.

I feel that it is this social evolution that has given rise to so many of America's health problems. It seems that every day new reports are coming out about our deteriorating health with obesity, heart attacks, cancers, high blood pressure and cholesterol on the rise. As a nation our health is going down as our intake of fresh food does. The true cost of the convenient foods are in the corners cut by the manufacturers; be it poor quality of ingredients, preservatives, artificial flavors, colors and additives or worse yet the content of the food.

It is predictable to tell what a person will be more likely to eat. The answer is what tastes good. However much of what is actually good for us doesn't taste “good” as we have been conditioned to understand that term. From our childhood on Americans are bombarded with advertising from food manufacturers that tell us that for food to be appealing it has to be sweet. This not only leads Americans from eating food with better nutritional value but encourages the consumption of soda, chips, chocolate and candy. Manufacturers also put sweeteners into their prepared foods to further its appeal. The cost of this marketing, Americans health is declining, even while our medical science advances further then it has in human history.

It is my firm belief that if the American people would take the time to learn how to cook properly then that knowledge would lend them to have the confidence to break the cycle of dependency on fast and prepackaged foods. This in turn would evolve into creating a demand for purer ingredients in which to cook with and that would force manufacturers to remove a great deal of the detrimental additives they put into food. This would further evolve into Americans health and standards of living improving.