Food, Inc. : Does anyone cook anymore?

Perhaps we wouldn't all be "slaves" to the fast-food industry if we'd all get off our tooshes and start cooking meals again.

I'm all for a yummy cheeseburger once in a while but several times a week?

I ask these questions now after having lived on two sides of the economic ladder (poor and middle). I seem to remember when I was strapped for cash, I did indulge in fast food more often because of the low cost. I can understand that if you have a family that may be struggling financially to take the easy way out because fast food is cheap and in most cases inexpensive.

I saw a doc on PBS about a year ago about the availability of health food in poor, urbanized areas and I hope that the film really touches this subject. Try finding a real grocery store that doesn't sell over-sugared products in struggling areas! I seem to remember the doc showed one area of NYC where the nearest "food" market was a convenience store.

My wife and I made a pledge three years ago to cook every day during the week and eat out once (NO McD's or BK!) on the weekend. So far so good, but I can't imagine what it would be like if you're regular working people (like us) who have to feed and extra mouth or two. Michael Pollan also said it best in an interview on NPR's "Fresh Air" last year, that if the government subsidized, say, Broccoli and Carrots they would be just as, if not cheaper, than corn.

kfmg

Amen. It's hard to eat at home when you aren't there to make a meal because your job requires you to be away from home.

What if we had a 35-hour work week? Five hours per week of more parenting time, meaning kids who feel more cared for and are maybe eating meals at home. Too European? Get this: 4-6 weeks of vacation with your family. Oh, sh*t, you have to give up that new car or that HDTV to spend time getting to know your kids!

99% of employed people are not required to be away from home any longer than their normal work day. Please try another point.

As far as work week, give up the corporate "babysitting" gig, where you spend a lot of your time in meetings, waiting for projects, and generally wasting time, and start your own business. Although the hours can be long at times, your entire schedule is open for your needs. Take any time you need with your family at any time.

"Oh, sh*t, you have to give up that new car or that HDTV to spend time getting to know your kids!"

I could probably cut my hours down from 45 or 50 a week to about 35. In theory, I wouldn't mind the reduced pay either. But anything less than 37/week at my employer means no health insurance, vacation, 401k contributions, or sick leave.

Yeah, that's the point, in order to expand the economy, and sell more stuff we have to create that dependence. Suck up people's time, subsidize the price of fast food by taking expenses out on the environment and you have push people towards eating garbage and never realizing it because that is how they are programmed as kids, to love artificiality, flavored, colored fat, sugar, salt, and chemicals, with a smattering of real food, but food raised in a factory method, that destroys the environment - no point to this machine except to make and monopolize power and money for the people who run it.

for the past 3 years my family and I will eat out maybe once a month. I even work in a restaurant and do not eat the food. LOL. But it's only because my mom is a stay at home mom. I eat Breakfast lunch and dinner and I think it is sad that its not normal too.
I'm thankful that I grew up in a house that didn't believe in artificial,sugar etc. At the time I just thought my mom was crazy but I'm thankful.

I cook 95% of my food. People are just lazy. It's nice to go out for dinner here and there or if you are out and about ONCE in a blue moon grabbing a sandwich but it's really not that hard to make sandwiches and bring fruits etc with you in your bag

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I cook 95% of my food.

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Me too. The other 5% are meals I eat at other people's homes, and the occasional restaurant meal.

I gave up fast food after I read "Fast Food Nation," and also try to avoid processed foods (easier said then done, especially when pressed for time)as much as possible. I buy organic, read labels, and watch my calorie/fat intake.
I love the fact that the Food Network has become so popular in recent years, indicating that more and more of us are cooking at home and wanting to learn how to prepare our own food in delicious new ways.
That said, I am also vegan, and often have felt smug when reading/watching about meat industry downfalls, feeling that I do not contribute to that problem, so there. Imagine my horror at learning in Food Inc about the soy bean industry! Argh, how frustrating!

"@dragonswak, I gave up fast food after watching the movie 'Fast Food Nation' :)
And imagine *my* horror after finding about the harm of soy, especially of non-fermented soy, for people with thyroid problems like myself! Luckily legumes is one big happy family with variety to offer."

Yes indeed - legumes and mushrooms are great meat substitutes!

Where exactly do you guys get this "cheap fast food"??? Every time I go to McD's I have to lay down like 7 bucks, for half that amount of money I can cook something at home. And when it comes to vegies, why is broccoli always the first one on the list? I like broccoli, but I can't eat it, I'm European, so I guess my stomach isn't used to it, I get sick almost every time I eat broccoli.

I know! It broke my heart to see that an organic company is now selling its products to Walmart. That is certain death for that company! It was presented by the Wal-fart execs as being good business for their stupid corporation, and the organic producers thought this was progress for the natural food movement. Wonder what they will be saying in a couple years when Walmart's price gouging policies either drive them out of business or force them to sell out?

Not in America they don't.

You're going to die screaming and I'm going to watch. Am I telling the truth?

"Fast Food" is NOT cheaper (or as your redundantly said, inexpensive), it's FASTER.

I can make hamburgers, fries, milkshakes, etc. at home for anywhere from 5 to 10 times cheaper than I can buy them from fast food restaurants.

Please stop spreading the fast food is cheaper myth. It's simply faster.

In some cases is it less healthy than homemade, but some items are relatively nutritional, but the overriding sales appeal is speed and lack of effort in making and obtaining it.

Nobody cooks (aside from a few here on this thread) , but everyone (well the average American) watches 4 hours of tv a day! (28 hours a week or two months of nonstop tv a year).

http://www.csun.edu/science/health/docs/tv&health.html

And if they told you wolverines made good housepets, would you believe them?-Del Griffith

Rockmail. Fast food is way cheaper. If I only have 4 dollars, where can I go to get all the stuff I need to make a burger for that? Sure, if I had 17 dollars, then I could go to town and get some great meat and grind it up myself, then some premium buns, and go to town on the veggies. Mmmm. Lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, even bread and butter pickles. Delicious. And that will last me a few burgers, but if I just want one, I'm screwed.

Gotta remember, all those people working at low salaries often need 2 jobs to make ends meet.They are poor because it's the only job they can get, they don't have time cuz they work too many hours.

Don't worry, those people with good salaries ARE cooking for themselves or have maids/chefs who do it for them. The rich are often healthier and surprisingly care about what they eat. But there are very few rich, and many many poor and overworked.

***So I've seen 4 movies/wk in theatre for a 1/4 century, call me crazy?**

My husband and I have enjoyed watching the new Jamie Oliver show "Food Revolution." In the 2nd or 3rd episode this season, it was interesting seeing Jamie prepare chicken nuggets from the **crap** they are prepared with at fast food restaurants as well the ingredients for school-prepared nuggets AND DISHEARTENING to see the number of kids raise their hands to say they'd still want to eat the crap. It was interesting also to see him create from-scratch chicken fingers or nuggets and try to get the kids to see and taste the difference. It was also horrifying to see the episode where he showed fresh fruits and vegetables to a 1st grade class (I think it was) to see how many kids could NAME the items, and the one kid thought a bunch of tomatoes was potatoes!! None of the kids could correctly name any of the items!!!! WHAT are those kids' parents feeding them?!!!!! Scary. We were AMAZED! DellaStreet 4/13/10, 9:25a.m.

Wow I would like to see that show - sounds enlightening.

Just a few thoughts on some other people's posts from this thread.

Dragon, Jamie Oliver's show plays on ABC on Friday nights and you can catch previous episodes on the ABC website (from within the US only). That chicken nugget part was mint, poor kids.

Yes, people are lazy. I understand with both parents working it's tough to make home cooked meals but it really is easier than most people think.

I too find it a myth that fast food is cheaper than cooking at home, that's ridiculous and I don't buy it either. Although I'm in Canada and it's true that fast food in the US is cheaper than here I still can't buy the "cheaper" angle. i.e. that Mexican family spent I believe it was $11 for those burgers, if they were to eat three meals a day at a fast food joint that would be $33 per day which is $231 per week (heck 2 meals per day would mean $154 per week). They could spend less than half of that $231 and eat great home cooked meals every day. My wife and I spend $80-100 on non supermarket groceries per week, including some locally grown meat which is more expensive. We'll treat ourselves maybe once a week to a restaurant although we are trying to cut that down too.

As for the organic farmer selling to Wal Mart, I'm torn on that one. Pro: he's getting a superior product out to the masses, con: like someone said Wal Mart is going to own his soul and day now and do what they want with him. That's they way they work, they will call the shots. But hey, at the end of the day whether you like WalMart or not, they will make you millions and that's what the majority of people want. We all say Wal Mart is evil, but if we were manufacturing some sort of product, who wouldn't want to have their product being sold at Wal Mart.

That sounds far-fetched tyler. Maybe in a university dorm and not even. I'm from Canada and we too have an over abundance of convenient food. Where in the UK do you live? The UK has obesity problems themselves and they are most obese in Europe, too much fast food there too.

I'm not taking a swipe, it is what it is. My sister lives in Europe and she has witnessed a frozen food industry pop out overnight. Frozen foods were unheard of when she first moved there over 20 years ago.

ASBO CHAV, I just looked it up. lol.You learn something new every day. That's basically called "white trash" in these parts. lol

I live in Sydney, Australia and although we are heading down the same path as American food consumers, I don't think we are there yet or have the same packaged food to fresh food ration.

I cook from 'scratch' as much as possible with raw foods from my local green grocer that selects fresh produce from the farmers markets, daily. I have to say, that I was one of those people that WAS clueless as to the extent of how much food is tampered with and overly processed in the supermarkets. I knew it was bad, but to that extent really surprised me.

Must admit, I don't read labels as I generally have no idea what they mean and what the ingredients are. Some of those names for things are very scientific. I will be doing some research from now on and continuing my 'from scratch' style of cooking. Thank the heavens for Tupperware!!
If I do a big cook up (usually sundays), I freeze my lunches and dinners and avoid buying take out and snacks.

I study fulltime and run my own business. It's not 'hard' as such, I just have to be organised and that can be where some people slip up. Now, I just make my health a priority.

Poizen said, "I don't read labels as I generally have no idea what they mean and what the ingredients are. Some of those names for things are very scientific."

Poizen, the fact that you don't know what those ingredients are (I don't know what the heck those things are either) and the fact that they are unpronounceable and scientific should be enough to keep us away. It keeps me away. You don't need to understand the ingredients to understand the label, if you know what I mean.

We shouldn't be buying anything with more than 4-5 ingredients (recognizable ones) if we need to buy prepared items. You should read Eric Schlosser's "Fast Food Nation" if you haven't already (he was the guy in Food Inc who was speaking in a Congressional hearing).

Growing up, both my parents worked but my mom always found time to cook us home cooked meals (like you said, make extra of something and stick it in containers in the fridge/freezer. Heck, I even grew up on sugary packaged mass produced fake colourful breakfast cereal and I turned out normal but the majority of what we ate was made from mom.

Oh yes, I totally agree!!

If I can't read it, say it or have any idea of what it is, it's not going into my system.
I am glad that I grew up in a single parent family that struggled with money for this particular point; as it made a mark on me about what is necessary and unnecessary foods to buy. We def. never had junk food and if we wanted biscuits or cake, I had to make it from scratch and that's how I learned to cook and manipulate ingrediants.

My mother worked full time, was a single parent of 3 children and still managed (with my help) to come home and make a healthy and substancial meal every night. We ALWAYS had at least 3 different types of steamed veg and she experimented with garlic, herbs + spices so it was never boring.

People ask me what my favourite food is, and I always have to say "My Mum's cook!!"
She could whip up the best meals from thin-air and nothing in the cupboard and they tasted amazing.

I do remember not liking something in particular and she said that I sat there for hours, refusing to eat it. To me, it felt like days! she told me that I obviously wasn't hungry enough and I was sent to bed. That was the first and only time I didn't eat my vegies. Good lesson I learnt.

I asked her how she managed to do it and she said "practice". "There was no choice, I had 3 children to feed and you were going to be healthy because I couldn't afford for anyone to be sick". "I wanted to give you 3 the best chance in life". Those words have stuck with me for a while and each time I pick up junk or something at the supermarket that is 'naughty', I remember what she said.

Cooking = learning new skills, saving money, being healthier and feeling good about what you are putting into your body.

She's a wise gal, my Mum :D