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I found this article very interesting, thought others might like to read it and share their thoughts
Quote:
Over the course of five years, the authors interviewed more than 150 low- and middle-income mothers and a handful of grandmothers, in and around Raleigh, North Carolina, all primary caregivers of young children. Ultimately, they focused on nine. It’s not that foodie doctrine is wrong, exactly — home-cooked meals are great, we should eat more vegetables, it is nice when families eat together — but rather that the prescriptions of (mostly white, mostly male) public food intellectuals stop making sense when confronted with real life.
The mothers and grandmothers in the book do take food seriously. Across income levels, they care about how they feed their families, and across income levels, they feel like they’re failing. Which they are, in a way, because the task is impossible. A societal problem requires a societal fix.
I volunteer regularly at a food bank and I hear so many of the comments that are discussed in the article. The food bank I work at is geared to people who cook, it doesn't give out ready to eat things, it has fresh produce, uncooked grains and beans, raw meat, etc. And most of our participants are very happy to fill their cart with fresh produce and the other healthy foods we have. And just like in the article, they want to find ways to have healthy foods and provide wholesome and enjoyable meals for their families.
But I've talked to people who don't have a working stove and are managing with a single burner and a microwave, or sometimes even less than that. They don't have a big freezer to store things they get on sale, or that they can try to cook in advance to have another time. They are often trying to take the week's worth of food they get from us home on the bus. Many of them are working full time and/or going to school, plus raising kids or caring for other relatives or dealing with their own disabilities and medical concerns.
I've never read an article before that captured the competing demands and all the pressures so many are facing like this.
A collection of one pot recipes that can be made on a single burner could be assembled by volunteers at the food bank and given out along with the food. It wouldn't take much room to store or be a big hassle to carry home either. One big meal that you have for dinner for the entire week. My wife does this for my lunch...makes a soup or casserole on Sunday night and serves it to me all week. Works well.
Not sure why the article had to try to make it a racial issue though.
Saw an intwrview about that book at The Atlantic just a couple of days ago and immediately put it on reserve at my library. It’s currently on order, and there are already a dozen people on the wait list. Clearly, the topic hit a nerve. Can’t wait to read it.
A collection of one pot recipes that can be made on a single burner could be assembled by volunteers at the food bank and given out along with the food. It wouldn't take much room to store or be a big hassle to carry home either. One big meal that you have for dinner for the entire week. My wife does this for my lunch...makes a soup or casserole on Sunday night and serves it to me all week. Works well.
That sounds like a great idea.
Sometimes cooking is overwhelming for any of us, I can't imagine having to only do it using a single burner.
A collection of one pot recipes that can be made on a single burner could be assembled by volunteers at the food bank and given out along with the food. It wouldn't take much room to store or be a big hassle to carry home either. One big meal that you have for dinner for the entire week. My wife does this for my lunch...makes a soup or casserole on Sunday night and serves it to me all week. Works well.
Not sure why the article had to try to make it a racial issue though.
We don't just give out a box of food, we have a market based approach, and the participants get to shop our market and choose the foods they and their families like. We also have cooking classes and a featured recipe that is made from foods currently in the market. Samples are offered to the participants while they are waiting to shop, and there are copies of that recipe available.
But I will mention the idea of focusing on some one pot recipes to the nutritionist, that would be a good thing to offer in a class and sometimes as the sample recipe.
Saw an intwrview about that book at The Atlantic just a couple of days ago and immediately put it on reserve at my library. It’s currently on order, and there are already a dozen people on the wait list. Clearly, the topic hit a nerve. Can’t wait to read it.
Unfortunately not at my local library, but I'm going to mention it when I'm at the food bank tonight, and see if I can set up a discussion group for it. We might be able to order some copies in a bulk order and save some money that way.
Why did this need to be made into a "mostly white, mostly male" issue? Or what amounts to pointing fingers at people who write about things that work for them, and may work for others, maybe not. Of course it won't work for everyone, like the people living in a hotel. It's cooking, people do it or they don't.
A collection of one pot recipes that can be made on a single burner could be assembled by volunteers at the food bank and given out along with the food. It wouldn't take much room to store or be a big hassle to carry home either. One big meal that you have for dinner for the entire week. My wife does this for my lunch...makes a soup or casserole on Sunday night and serves it to me all week. Works well.
Not sure why the article had to try to make it a racial issue though.
That was a bit off putting. I call BS on this: "And almost all of these white middle-class families had at least one domestic servant, and many had more. These were families who were not doing this work merely on their own — they were actually paying people to cook and to clean. Between 1880 and 1940, almost all American upper- and middle-class families had at least one domestic servant they employed"
Although I understand the challenges of those who are homeless or living in conditions where they may not have a working stove or fridge, looking at these images https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C...XAQsAR6BAgFEAE much of what was discussed in the article seems to be first world problems.
My grandmother, when they started out, only had a wood cook stove to prepare meals and feed their family, no refrigerator. My grandparents generation managed fine despite food preparation issues. I realize things are different now but other than the issue of homelessness or not having a kitchen is home cooking really an issue.
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