There’s a very strange paradox in much of the world today, that just about everyone knows about, but that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere in a hurry.
Specifically – we live in a time when food is more accessible than ever before, and where food choices and information are likewise prevalent, but a huge proportion of people are nonetheless struggling with nutrition-related health conditions and bad food habits.
According to the USDA, the average American spends just 37 minutes a day in total, preparing and serving food, and cleaning up.
Processed foods, calorie-dense but nutrient-poor snacks, and sugar-laden soft drinks – among other things – are much more prevalent than regular home-cooked meals.
Here are just a few benefits of taking a radically different approach, and home cooking all your meals.
Decadent snacks become a lot more work
There are all sorts of delicious snacks and delicacies out there that are great for special occasions, and give life a lot of extra joy – but that are still quite “decadent” and that you probably shouldn’t eat more than a couple of times a month.
One of the great things about committing to home cooking all of your meals, is that delicious guilty pleasures like this pesto pizza recipe here can still be indulged in, but they become a lot more work. This means that you’re almost certain to naturally end up eating them less often than you would otherwise.
The popular food writer, Michael Pollan, has made the same argument in some of his great food documentaries. Cook everything from scratch – including your deserts – and you’ll probably have your deserts pretty infrequently. They’ll also seem that much more special when you do eat them..
You will be able to sample and carry forward some excellent cultural traditions
Cooking isn’t just a purely utilitarian thing that people do in order to supply their bodies with energy, it’s also one of the most fundamental aspects of any culture in the world.
By home cooking different cuisine, you get to sample fascinating – and often ancient – cultural traditions from around the world.
You also get to carry forward some excellent cultural traditions from your own background, and from your own parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, or ancestors at large. This is always easier to do if you have some cookbooks sitting around.
You’ll be able to more mindfully engage with one of the cornerstone activities of everyday life
It might be pretty easy to end up taking food for granted if it’s always around, and if you never have to give it too much thought. But the simple truth is that food is one of the most powerful, fundamental necessities for life.
When you home cook all your meals, you are engaging more mindfully with one of the cornerstone activities of everyday life. This can help to make you a lot more appreciative of the food you have, and a lot more engaged and “switched on” in general.