The Joy of Cooking
The quick answer: For best health, you have to be a cook or at least be on good terms with a cook.
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The Siren Song
In Greek mythology the daughters of Achelous lured passing sailors to their death by singing their siren song. It was a song so irresistible seamen would leap into the ocean and succumb to their power—the men's only protection was to cover their ears.
The poet Walter C. Perry spoke of this: “Their song, though irresistibly sweet, was no less sad than sweet, and lapped both body and soul in a fatal lethargy, the forerunner of corruption and death.”
So the term “siren song” refers to a message that is both seductive and destructive. Which brings us to the brilliant advertising campaigns of Food Inc. These campaigns too are cleverly manipulative, distort the truth, and bring early death. I see them on TV but listen with amusement and never ever take their propaganda to be wisdom.
Seduction through Convenience
In the last century, as the Industrial Revolution rolled through our food supply, a repeating song for new factory-made food products was “convenience.” It came in stages but bit-by-bit the art of cooking was reduced to opening packages. My first job out of college was with P&G, a venerable company that offered food products like Duncan Hines cake mixes. Later canned frosting was offered.
The packaged cake mix with canned frosting could serve as a metaphor for the adulteration of our food supply. The box had a very long shelf life, the cake was easy to make and required little skill, and of course it was sweetly unhealthy.
The directions on the cake mix called for an egg to be added (the yolk emulsifies the water and oil) but it wasn’t really needed as chemical emulsifiers were added at the factory. The idea was that adding an egg, though not needed, gave the woman making the cake the illusion of “cooking.”
We laughed at how easily women could be manipulated but out of company loyalty didn’t ponder long the consequences of our corporate philosophy—what was left when you took all the work out of cooking? Eating one packaged cake won’t kill you but a diet full of such factory-made products will. That’s one thing we proved in the last century.
The Joy of Cooking
Some years ago my Mom remarked with surprise, how all her friends had stopped cooking. They had worked long and hard at rearing their children but as their husbands retired from working, the wives retired from cooking. They ate out, bought “take out,” or pulled factory-made meals from the freezer. Today you can eat a variety of foods without ever cooking and these women followed that downward path. What was the result? All of Mom’s friends have passed away (their husbands typically died first) except one who suffers from dementia.
Mom still cooks, enjoys good health, and lives independently. But she doesn’t have anyone from her generation to talk to—and for my Mom, that’s a big problem.
The Pendulum Swings
The cooking pendulum has started to swing back towards equilibrium. I see this in our readers, how they are relearning how to cook more and open packages less. You’re ahead of the curve, this isn’t happening in every home, but you provide a model for the future that others can emulate. The good Lord bless you.
Please comment: Please comment on what you are doing to advance home cooking, or tell of someone who helped you. Or share your idea on how to spread the word.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013 at 9:52AM | by Skip Hellewell | 13 Comments | 13 References | Share Article | Email Article
Reader Comments (13)
I love cooking, so I try to teach my friends who didn't grow up with much home cooking (we are children of the 80s and 90s!) how to make some basic, healthy meals.
Teaching my kids to cook! They are all good helpers.
My grandma and mom taught me, and my three kids tend to gather around whenever I am cooking. My favorite is when my three year old gets all the bowls out and "cooks" right along with me.
I love this. I usually love to cook and an trying to teach my kids to love it too. I'm going to share this post on Facebook in hopes others will be inspired also.
I started a Facebook recipe group, planning that a couple friends might want to share (as we've been changing diets -- one friend's migraines have almost disappeared as a result of cutting sugar intake.). I ended up asking my whole Facebook feed if anyone else was interested in a whole foods low sugar recipe group and got a HUGE response. It's turning out to be quite the support group for sharing recipe ideas as well as general encouragement and tips for cooking in our busy lives. It really encourages me to cook and eat better when I see my friends posting what they are doing. Kind of positive peer pressure.
Anna
I got excited reading about the strong response to your Facebook recipe group. The reformation of the modern American diet (MAD) could happen through the spread of such groups.
In the LDS Church the Relief Society is the organization for women, it's the biggest and oldest pro-woman organization in the world, I'm told. I keep thinking this society could be a huge force in the food reformation also.
Many best wished to you Anna
Skip
Great post. That's so funny about the egg in cake mixes. It's sad to me how much cooking in the Mormon culture is what I call "home cooking by Kraft." These women are doing much of the work, but the end product is no healthier or tastier than fast food. It's sad when you realize how easy it is to make things from scratch and cut out the "middle man" by using whole foods. I learned to cook from my mom, but have gone on to cook more things from scratch than she did. Last week I tried something new and rendered lard from pastured pork... it made the best homemade french fries, ever!
I see a lot of positive change among young moms in my neighborhood. But then I feel discouraged when I go to a Relief Society activity and they're talking about couponing (to buy processed foods) or recipe planning with cream of something soup.
I can cook, but because I am working full time and spend nearly two hours travelling to and from work, I had fallen into bad habits and was relying to much on convenience foods. I am making the effort to cook from scratch and find it is not actually taking any longer. I am building activity and sunshine exposure into my day by walking the three blocks to the supermarket in my lunch hour to buy any needed ingredients. So far, so good. My little family (my 86 mum and my 20 year old son) are certainly appreciating the results!
Skip - if you or anyone else are interested in checking out the facebook recipe group I'm happy to add you. Just send an email to joeandannablog (at) gmail (dot) com
I primary cook, we go out 1-2 times a week and choose vegetarian options. I find that I cook the same things over and over again for about 1-2 months. They are easy, quick and healthy! I used to make meals really complicated and it would stress me out. I try a new recipe every 2-3 weeks, but stick with the tried and true and nutritious ones over and over again!
I'm 47 years old and love to cook. Always have. I don't want the chemicals and filler in my food so I make my own. Several years ago I was at work eating some homemade potato salad and my coworkers were asking where I bought it because it looked good. I said I didn't buy it. I made it. They laughed and laughed, sincerely laughed, because they thought I was kidding. One of them, a woman in her late 20s who has a graduate degree in economics said "you can't make potato salad. you buy it." Then she heard herself speak those words and she said, well, I guess somebody had to make it first, huh? The other coworker, a man in his early 30s, asked I would show them how to make it. I had them over for drinks and dinner one night, with the entree being the homemade potato salad. You would think I was explaining cold fusion with the way they were taking notes. They had raptures over the finished product. My potato salad is good, but sheesh! Caviar and champagne it's not! :)
Nobody in their family had taught them to cook. Ever. I told them my grandmother was spinning in her grave. I'm not sure if they ever attempted to make the salad but they used to beg to come over for dinner regularly after that!
Skip,
I just want to thank you for all the time and effort you have put into this website. I am overcoming my food addiction through the Word of Wisdom and found your website today. It is extremely helpful and exactly what I was looking for. Thanks again!
Because we had a large family, money was tight, and I was trying my best to be obedient to a living Prophet and not work outside the home, I devoted time to learning about nutrition and cooking. Cooking became a fun and rewarding hobby as well as a way to keep our family healthy. The money we saved by my cooking from scratch was incredible, but now that I am a Senior Citizen, what is even more impressive is that our 6 sons are good cooks and their wives keep telling me what wonderful husbands and fathers they are. (What could ever compare to this?) I learned to pray before grocery shopping so that the spirit would help me find the most nutritious food for the money available. I continue this practice to this day and my husband and I are unusually healthy & strong for our age with no degenerative diseases & no need to take any prescriptions at all. I was just asked to be a vendor at our local Farmer's market and to sell my fresh ground grain breads, muffins & cookies. There are so many invaluable facets to studying nutrition and cooking! Not the least of which is feeling that we are being obedient to the Lord's Word of Wisdom and that we are worthy to be called saints. (See D&C 89; v 3)