This week's article was inspired by a discussion I had about an article I wrote some weeks back.
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/862/...
and by the following quote which I uncovered while searching for reviews of the book fast Food Nation:
Americans now spend more money on fast food than they do on higher education, personal computers, software or new cars. They spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos and recorded music - combined. http://www.mcspotlight.org/media/press/r...
written by the author of Fast Food Nation: http://www.fsbassociates.com/hmco/fastfo...
My thoughts are running on these lines: What will it take to get people back into the kitchen? In other words, how do we return to a time when Fast Food was a treat and not the mainstay of our diet.
Why do I care? There are a number of reason and I have discussed some of them in previous articles.
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/862/...
My concern at the moment is the loss of skills that is taking place. When your meals come from a store, pre-packaged and pre-cooked, you have little need for basic cooking skills. So these skills, which could be considered survival skills, gradually disappear. Why survival skills? Well you can't grow a hamburger, fries and a coke in your backyard or basement. You won't find a pizza growing in a hydroponic garden. If these and similar foods, even healthy ones, are the mainstay of your diet, you will always need to be in a situation where you can pay for them. What happens if you lose your job? What happens when the company downsizes or moves away, or files for bankruptcy? How prepared are you to survive long term unemployment? Or a natural disaster when the stores are closed? You can't fall back on food you have stored or grown and turn a turnip and potato into a stew because one; you don't have either of them on hand and two, you can barely boil water on your own. I exaggerate to make a point. Being able to feed yourself is the foundation of being sustainable. This means that cooking, at least a basic knowledge of cooking is an essential skill that no one should be without.
Go To Page: 1 2
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Bob Ewing's From Field To Table topic, please visit the Discussions page.