Posted on 09/21/2023 4:52:39 AM PDT by daniel1212
I’ve spent two decades consulting extensively for consumer packaged goods companies. Early in my career I gathered some data for a client on cooking. This research found that consumers fell into one of three groups: (1) people who love to cook, and cook often, (2) people who hate to cook, and avoid that activity by heating up convenience food or outsourcing their meals (by ordering out or dining in restaurants), and, finally, (3) people who like to cook sometimes, and do a mix of cooking and outsourcing, depending on the situation. At the time, the sizes of the three respective groups were about 15% who love to cook, 50% who hate to cook, and 35% who are so-so on the idea.
Nearly 15 years later I did a similar study for a different client. This time, the numbers had shifted: Only 10% of consumers now love to cook, while 45% hate it and 45% are lukewarm about it. That means that the percentage of Americans who really love to cook has dropped by about one-third in a fairly short period of time.
Beyond the numbers, it also suggests that our fondness for Food TV has inspired us to watch more Food TV, and to want to eat more, but hasn’t increased our desire to cook. In part, Food TV has raised our standards to discouragingly high levels: How many of us really feel confident in our cooking skills after watching Iron Chef? (My high school chemistry teacher quit the cello in college after playing a semester next to Yo-Yo Ma.) This may be one reason why consumers now spend more on food in restaurants than on groceries.
I’ve come to think of cooking as being similar to sewing. As recently as the early 20th century, many people sewed their own
The highly marbled restaurant grade beef is 3% of all beef. Actually it is healthier to eat grass fed beef.
“””If you discount time shopping, storing, cooking and cleaning up the mess. The “savings” IMO is minimal.”””
LOL, if you just compare every second of your life to being at work you don’t save anything.
I was staying with a buddy and he wanted to order pizza when I said let’s just cook something and save the money, his response was “Time is Money”, I pointed out that it was 7 p.m. and he was sitting on the couch watching TV, if he wanted to make money then consider cooking a $5.00 dinner instead of ordering a $35.00 dinner making $30.00 while we were watching his stupid TV show.
If you want to make your off time productive then do things with it that save money, cook your own steak, mow your own yard, shave your own face, wash your own clothes, and make your own coffee.
It’s sad. People are too busy or lazy. Packaged food can be unhealthy. Think obesity. Think economy of motion when cooking. I’ll think ahead when it comes to thawing or shelf life of perishables.
Cooking should be a positive experience.
I'm on NutriSystem, and have so far lost 105 pounds over 2 years. I like the convenience of the meals they send me, which being a widower, I can just pop in the microwave. However, on the program you are responsible for shopping for fruits, vegetables, high-fiber carbs (like brown rice or whole wheat bread) and specific proteins (like nonfat milk).
My daughter got me an air fryer for Christmas, and I love cooking with it. I also enjoy cooking my vegetables in a casserole. Spices? You bet! Paprika, gochujang, and my pantry's full of all kinds of hot sauces.
Exactly so. I enjoy cooking, and I don’t want to take a 5 year old and a 7 year old to a restaurant in the odd times we do something nice. For my wife’s birthday, I grilled steak (Locally source; I get a quarter steer from a neighbor regularly. Best of all, I got to meet him first), local new potatoes, asparagus, and elderberry wine. (IE, all I had grown/vinted myself). Such a meal for two people would be a small fortune at a restaurant. And I’m confident I can give any such restaurant a run for it’s money in such cookery.
No need to do much anymore, partly due to a few surplus items (often left over from surplus) from privately donated food from a store chain that we distribute as part of ministry in our densely populated city. And with some neighbors who love to cook and share, as I do. Thanks and glory be to God.
My wife and I love to cook together. She a genius in the kitchen. I can stir a pot really good. My place is tending the smoker and grill. I make a superb cedar planked salmon with honey-ginger glaze, excellent baby back ribs, and slow smoked reverse seared steaks. She can put together an amazing meal with little effort, shrimp chowder, the absolute best chicken and dumplings, Caprese chicken tortellini, and a host of other dishes. We rarely eat out since our home cooking is better than most restaurants.
I don’t like cooking.
But I do it because it is better than the alternative.
While many people do not cook, I see many people at the grocery store buying ingredients, and companies sell lots of ingredients so I know people are cooking.
I taught myself to cook, because mom wasn’t very good at it. Thank you, Betty Crocker!
Your wife sounds like me, and you sound like my husband. Same skill set. Why eat out?
When we (Sue and I) decided that we were going to do whatever it takes to get out of our debt and start saving/investing, I took it on myself to teach myself how to cook.
Here we are 7 years later and I do 95% of the food prep. I have had meals that were flops but overall not too bad. We eat like royalty in spite of my mistakes for about $600/month.
The most interesting people are those who are interested in life and being creative and doing things for themselves.
When I showed back up in an old girlfriend’s life who had slipped into a well-financed comfort zone of hiring things done I had to get her away from feeding her upscale guests catered or pre-ordered foods and get her to cooking, to make it more personalized engaging, and even unpredictable.
Over time her dinners became more lively, interesting and engaging with better-tasting food. Guests would show up early and get in the kitchen to help, we started making pies and desserts, and people started bringing something from home occasionally.
The relationships became more intimate and warm and the evenings were more relaxed and open, and the rare mistakes only seemed to liven things up, they were completely different and better dinner parties than what they were when I first showed up, everyone loves to drink their wine and be part of the kitchen activity and socializing, as the oven is being opened and closed and people helping or watching it all, maybe walking over to stir a pot, the activity and participation and the wine the resulting meal and all that ice-braking make for a wonderful after-dinner atmosphere for people who tend to be protective and guarded of their image. Those people changed over the course of a year and the friendships got better.
Yes, I guesstimate a single person under 150lbs can live for under $30 a week, just from food you purchase. About $6 for 5 lbs.Whole Wheat Flour for the morning will get you started. Add 1 lb Lentils, $1.34. and 1 lb dry beans for $1.50; Natural Chicken Drumsticks, 4 lb for $4.68 and -- I am out of time. Bible study and prayer at 9:30Am
Let me tell you from direct, learned experience:
Most restaurant food is toxic.
If you care about your health & longevity, make ‘eating out’ a rare, exclusive event.
Its importance is on par with exercise.
The irony of this article is the amount of space grocers reserve for fresh food correlates to the percentage of those cooking and continues to worsen while startups like Hello Fresh & Home Chef fill the void.
Here’s the worst part in the form of a question:
Who else has noticed that a staple of grocery checkout - recipe books/magazines - have been slowly disappearing and that self-checkout are bereft of ‘impulse goods retail items’ such as magazines?
The grocery industry’s problem is somewhat self-inflicted, but placing blame upon them or the lack of home economics is classic deflection.
People literally need to look in the mirror.
Who else has noticed that a staple of grocery checkout -
recipe books/magazines - have been slowly disappearing and
that self-checkout are bereft of ‘impulse goods retail items’
such as magazines?
**********
Nothing new as life is ever changing be it for the good or bad....
I love to cook and experimenting with new recipes. All of the males in my family are terrific cooks especially my 22 year old grandson. He’s self taught and so accomplished. He’s in college and regularly cooks for his housemates. My two sons have also become very good cooks. The oldest one does a lot of fishing and makes some incredible seafood dishes. His tuna poke, ceviche and fish tacos are to die for.
“I love grilling. All year round. Keep the snow cleared off and around it.”
Same here!
In the summer we grill pizza on the grill to keep the house cooler...
I taught both my boys how to cook. If a man, as a man myself, cannot cook, clean, sew on a button, clean/polish you shoes/boots, do laundry plus the manly stuff … then your opportunities for a spouse/family drastically diminish. My thinking is you can teach anyone to do those domestic things. You can do any of those things together as a couple and make your bonds stronger. If neither know and neither learn then might as well stay single. Both my sons do about 95% of the cooking at home and they are early in their lives so cooking at home is just cheaper and better for you. Most of the fat dumb lazy idiots eat nutrition Al garbage fast food.
Anyway, less money increases the need for home cooking / meal planning.
Home made meals every night, and you DO save a LOT of money.
Fine come over and make me a sammich and then start cooking up dinner.
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