“Remember, too, that at a time when people are very concerned with their health and its relationship to what they eat, we have handed over the responsibility for our nourishment to faceless corporations.”

-Lynne Rossetto Kasper

I think there is a tremendous myth around cooking and being able to cook.

Somewhere along the way, some people decided that only chefs, grandmothers and a handful of gifted geniuses could cook.

The rest of us had to meekly accept our fates as sub-par humans doomed to prepare and eat mediocre, pre-prepared meals when we did cook at home. Unless we were privileged enough to eat at the tables of the former class of hallowed cooks.

Now, don’t get me wrong. This class of hallowed cooks have earned their laurels and I can honestly say that I would gladly eat at their tables any day. However, this is a time of reckoning.

Why? You ask.

For one, being able to cook is a true sign of independence and full adulthood. A person who can cook should not be defined by gender, class, age, social status or formal training. Secondly, we must control what we put in our bodies. We put in the good stuff like protein for fat burning and other amazing benefits. We keep out the bad like ultra-processed food and we have to insist on natural ingredients in our food like natural color. If you know how to cook, you can enjoy a variety of dishes and avoid boredom.

Cooking is for Health

Thirdly, when we are in control of what goes into our food and how we prepare it, we directly control how healthy we feel and how healthy we really are. Ultra-processed food makes up an increasing part of the American (and the developed world’s) diet: see https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/highly-processed-food-linked-early-death-study-rcna55455. This very diet has removed vital nutrients from food. Adding those nutrients back may be important for health, in part by feeding the microbiome and parts of our body that turn food into fuel.

So, we need to either be able to buy foods that aren’t ultra-processed or we need to make these less processed foods ourselves. We need to re-think our addiction to convenience and taste.

So, we need to call out food-snobbery and the alienation of the average person from what goes into our food. Basic principles of cooking work, to begin with. Also, making mistakes and less than perfect dishes are all part of life. For the most part, I have eaten my mistakes and it is my mantra. I tell my two adult sons this all the time because cooking and baking are skills that can only improve with practice.

This is why I am here, building my resources for you to use and to empower yourself. This is why I have already built up resources for you to look at, like the ones from my previous posts, published a couple of years ago and referred to in this article. I am a firm believer in researching widely and then doing the work to ensure that someone can benefit from my research and reading.

So, let us continue our mission together to eat better and live healthy. I am so looking forward to this quest!

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