Don’t know about the folks you hang with, but without exception, those people I know that go to the trouble of making their own dog and/or baby food have done more than ample research into the nutritional needs of their 2 or 4 legged consumer.
I doubt those that line up in the drive through lanes of fast food restaurants have done the same due diligence. But that is only my assumption.
Most of the people I hang with have a PhD, although a few have an MS. We’re all pretty knowledgeable about scientific matters.
Ironically, most of the people I see who are obsessed with nutrition are not scientists, and their knowledge is... well, to be blunt, most of it falls into the realm of pseudoscience. It is my observation that the majority of nutrition information available out there is just plain wrong. I do not doubt that many of the people making their own dog/cat/baby food read quite extensively on the subject—it’s just that they don’t have good sources for their information.
Pet food manufacturers are required to test their foods empirically, by feeding them for several months to animals whose health status is assessed by a veterinarian before and after the feeding study. Unless people use recipes that have been tested in a similar manner, they cannot really know they are feeding foods containing all of the needed nutrients. Cats, for example, can go blind if their food lacks a specific amino acid (taurine)—how many people can test whether a food contains adequate taurine in their kitchens?
Despite the plethora of bad nutrition information that exists, I think that most people do have some instinctive sense about what we should and shouldn’t eat or feed our babies, but we don’t have that same instinct about our animals. So it really is a challenge to make sure they get the proper food. A dog or cat can’t tell you if their diet is making them feel bad.
I have two dog food cookbooks at home that discuss the best foods for different breeds, and the nutritional aspects of each meat or vegetable.
I am very tempted to start getting back into making food for my dog, at least to supplement what he already gets. I'm going to start by making my own treats in place of store-bought treats.
-PP