Growing up as a child, my parents would take me with them on many vacations. I've gone several times to Utah and one time each to Hawaii and Florida. Trips to Disneyland were frequently made, and still are for my little brother's sake. I grew up eating out at many restaurants along with a few scarce home-cooked meals. My father worked as a breadwinner and came out too tired to cook; my mother, as I got older, didn't cook as often those same home-cooked meals that I had as a child. But when they both cooked together, it was far better than the restaurants that we frequently visited so much on the weekends. Those burger patties, chicken breasts and microwaved vegetables, memories I'm still fond of in contrast to the highly seasoned food of the restaurants.
Now as a college student I have learned to cook. I am not a professional chief, but I cook often. I cook meals which incorporate the science of nutrition into every meal. I say my specialty is in anti-inflammatory meals and fried yuca (tapioca) patties. Oh, and I make a wonderful shepherd's pie with ground beef. I add a lot of spices...something my parents don't do in spite of the plethora of herbs, ginger, and cinnamon that lie easily in their grasp. At least, though, their cooking preserves a nostalgia of home-made that is hard to get enough of in our own times.
In 2015 more Americans spend money eating out than cooking food at home. This, in contrast, to 1950's America, is astonishing. Half of household expenses in the 1950's were spend on food, whereas now it is about 10% of household expenses.
Why is this happening? There can be many things going into these statistics, such as a redefined quality of life reflecting something about the American people that wasn't the case in the 1950's. It can be the additives, preservatives, and chemicals in food that addict people to eating out. But with corporate actions in 2015, these chemicals are slowly beginning to fade away from those foods. A few example of these actions would be from Panera Bread, Kraft, and McCormick Spices. So shouldn't these foods without those ingredients be leading to improved health for the American population?
Some say that environmental pollution is doing havoc to many foods and water supply; with this in mind, it could be better to eat out and buy bottled water than to cook in-house and drink tap water that has been filtered. But even with filtered water, our chemical-laden food supply nourishes the vast majority of the world. It has lowered the cost of food, and it will be through this and genetic engineering that food continues to go down in price. It is this food supply that makes eating out so feasible, and ultimately so reliable on people.
This brings me to the following argument: People want reliability in what they cook. People want to know that the process of cooking can be quick and/or that cooking can yield the same flavor in favorite foods again and again. Perhaps even more than this is a hidden desire for food to become a thoughtless procurement so as to keep laboring on in our society. People are tired, exhausted, they want their money to add lavishness to their lives that frugal food cannot. More and more I see home-cooking as a dying tradition. Last year I found out from my grandparents that they now refuse to cook, increasingly preparing pre-made meals or ingredients for consumption--this was in response to losing their land, which for many years sustained them with the meals they needed to flourish. Personally, I am disappointed too. But with more than this: 1/3 of the food produced in the world is wasted. Plastic is wasted to bag food in, to package food in. Most of our grocery stores are laden with processed foods.
What is the way that Americans want to eat? What is the way that Americans want to live? Trips to Marriott hotels just don't sound the same. The boating trips I had with my parents, though cramped, were far better than those: there was my Dad's homemade scrambled ham and eggs. The pancakes, I wish they were from a homemade mix, and not from a pre-made mix, but again, still better than the restaurants.
With those same flavors available at our fingertips, it is a matter of time before the creation of new flavors falls away from home cooking and into a sphere of restaurants. And, at that, restaurants available to everyone in the country, commonplace to every state and county. Food, in this way, will become the bland tradition of wasted time.
And hence the purpose of this blog. This blog will specifically address one topic in the cooking community that is very often not addressed enough: having a homemade meal on the road.
"But why?" is the question that perhaps pops into mind. The response to this is the following: It is important for self-resiliency, it is important for health, it cultivates memories. This can allow for camping if one so desired, thus getting us closer to nature. The argument sounds so annoying on paper, for one can perhaps see like I can the extra time and hardship it takes to cultivate this special meal on the road, whether it is for yourself, loved ones, or friends. But it is well worth it, and it also largely depends on the meals made. This can save money, or it may not, depending on what you choose to invest in from this blog. These posts, though, may make you more conscientious as to how you keep it fresh on the road. Along the way I will introduce my own life encounters with diet, wellness, and other experiences that will help you have better experiences travelling places. This blog is about keeping the "home" in travelling, which is useful both practically as well as mentally, particularly when we are challenged to sacrifice the nourishment that "homemade" gives us.
I look forward to writing more about this in the future.
Now as a college student I have learned to cook. I am not a professional chief, but I cook often. I cook meals which incorporate the science of nutrition into every meal. I say my specialty is in anti-inflammatory meals and fried yuca (tapioca) patties. Oh, and I make a wonderful shepherd's pie with ground beef. I add a lot of spices...something my parents don't do in spite of the plethora of herbs, ginger, and cinnamon that lie easily in their grasp. At least, though, their cooking preserves a nostalgia of home-made that is hard to get enough of in our own times.
In 2015 more Americans spend money eating out than cooking food at home. This, in contrast, to 1950's America, is astonishing. Half of household expenses in the 1950's were spend on food, whereas now it is about 10% of household expenses.
Why is this happening? There can be many things going into these statistics, such as a redefined quality of life reflecting something about the American people that wasn't the case in the 1950's. It can be the additives, preservatives, and chemicals in food that addict people to eating out. But with corporate actions in 2015, these chemicals are slowly beginning to fade away from those foods. A few example of these actions would be from Panera Bread, Kraft, and McCormick Spices. So shouldn't these foods without those ingredients be leading to improved health for the American population?
Some say that environmental pollution is doing havoc to many foods and water supply; with this in mind, it could be better to eat out and buy bottled water than to cook in-house and drink tap water that has been filtered. But even with filtered water, our chemical-laden food supply nourishes the vast majority of the world. It has lowered the cost of food, and it will be through this and genetic engineering that food continues to go down in price. It is this food supply that makes eating out so feasible, and ultimately so reliable on people.
This brings me to the following argument: People want reliability in what they cook. People want to know that the process of cooking can be quick and/or that cooking can yield the same flavor in favorite foods again and again. Perhaps even more than this is a hidden desire for food to become a thoughtless procurement so as to keep laboring on in our society. People are tired, exhausted, they want their money to add lavishness to their lives that frugal food cannot. More and more I see home-cooking as a dying tradition. Last year I found out from my grandparents that they now refuse to cook, increasingly preparing pre-made meals or ingredients for consumption--this was in response to losing their land, which for many years sustained them with the meals they needed to flourish. Personally, I am disappointed too. But with more than this: 1/3 of the food produced in the world is wasted. Plastic is wasted to bag food in, to package food in. Most of our grocery stores are laden with processed foods.
What is the way that Americans want to eat? What is the way that Americans want to live? Trips to Marriott hotels just don't sound the same. The boating trips I had with my parents, though cramped, were far better than those: there was my Dad's homemade scrambled ham and eggs. The pancakes, I wish they were from a homemade mix, and not from a pre-made mix, but again, still better than the restaurants.
With those same flavors available at our fingertips, it is a matter of time before the creation of new flavors falls away from home cooking and into a sphere of restaurants. And, at that, restaurants available to everyone in the country, commonplace to every state and county. Food, in this way, will become the bland tradition of wasted time.
And hence the purpose of this blog. This blog will specifically address one topic in the cooking community that is very often not addressed enough: having a homemade meal on the road.
"But why?" is the question that perhaps pops into mind. The response to this is the following: It is important for self-resiliency, it is important for health, it cultivates memories. This can allow for camping if one so desired, thus getting us closer to nature. The argument sounds so annoying on paper, for one can perhaps see like I can the extra time and hardship it takes to cultivate this special meal on the road, whether it is for yourself, loved ones, or friends. But it is well worth it, and it also largely depends on the meals made. This can save money, or it may not, depending on what you choose to invest in from this blog. These posts, though, may make you more conscientious as to how you keep it fresh on the road. Along the way I will introduce my own life encounters with diet, wellness, and other experiences that will help you have better experiences travelling places. This blog is about keeping the "home" in travelling, which is useful both practically as well as mentally, particularly when we are challenged to sacrifice the nourishment that "homemade" gives us.
I look forward to writing more about this in the future.
