"Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch"

Here's an interesting article by Michael Pollan from the Sunday New York Times Magazine.

It talks about how cooking in the US has slowly become a spectator sport. He traces the development over time of TV cooking shows from Julia Child (encouraging participation and bravery in the kitchen) to Iron Chef America (mostly spectacle, but encouraging bravery in consuming). Because it's Michael Pollan, he ties it up with some observations about how people's overall eating habits could be impacted for the better in the midst of all this.

And some Lisa P. family background:

Dad is a better cook than Mom, but mostly refuses to cook except for special occasions. Mom had a hot family dinner on the table every evening, but beyond a few go-to dishes, anything beyond food from a box or can is beyond Mom's abilities or desire. Pretty typical of dual-income suburban households, I think.

As my sisters and I got sick of the same repeated schlock, we learned to cook. We were the first generation to embrace written recipes. Previous folks in our family had all cooked and baked by "feel." But we picked up our skills mostly as we were on our way out of the house. So now, if there's a big family Thanksgiving or Christmas or Reunion dinner, the sisters and I are usually in charge. If we're not there, Dad takes over. As empty nesters with dual income, the vast majorities of their meals are convenience foods or meals eaten out. It's not worth the effort to heat up the oven for 2 people any more.

But it is true - cooking is mostly a spectator sport for folks. Lots of times when we cook, we're adding water and eggs to a cake mix or browning ground beef for Hamburger Helper. And that's all good, but honestly, it doesn't take that much longer to make a cake from scratch or to make beefy cheesy macaroni with the basic ingredients.

But it does take more preplanning, it does take a stocked pantry, and it takes knowledge. And getting all that stuff together does take more time. There's got to be a way to help balance things out for folks that doesn't suck up all their time and energy and resources.

Any ideas?