Michael Pollan — he of “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” fame — has a new book coming out next Tuesday called “Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation.”
I’m not sure about this book; the NY Times says Pollan’s deep dive into four specific foods (Bolognese, pork shoulder, sauerkraut and bread) has him “broadly playing celebrity chef.” Hmmmm.
But in his interview with Mark Bittman, Pollan highlights that cooking is transformative:
Cooking is probably the most important thing you can do to improve your diet. What matters most is not any particular nutrient, or even any particular food: it’s the act of cooking itself. People who cook eat a healthier diet without giving it a thought. It’s the collapse of home cooking that led directly to the obesity epidemic.
Darn those moms going to work! But Pollan wants everyone to cook:
We need to complete that uncomfortable conversation about the division of domestic labor … if we’re going to rebuild a culture of cooking, it can’t mean returning women to the kitchen. We all need to go back to the kitchen.
Trying to get everyone into the kitchen seems to be as much tilting as windmills as other public health proposals. Me, I’m going to experiment with my own little cooking n=1 to see how it relates to my own eating/weight issues. It may not translate on a wide scale, but I must admit to being intrigued. We’ll see how it goes!
Weight Maven is written by Beth Mazur. Beth believes that obesity is more symptom than cause and that the real problem is our Western diet -- especially sugar, refined grains, and industrial oils. Beth writes about nutrition, ancestral health, & food policy. And cats! 
I do agree that everyone should cook.
I surprised my Mum by volunteering to cook at age 11.
My brother followed my Dad in his lack of cooking.
It seems it can only happen in families, as school-taught cooking no longer happens. When Dads also do it, there is good example for kids to get involved too, and to eat their own dishes.
I remember being fairly intimidated by the responsibility of the whole thing … and I’m not sure I ever really got over that. I learned how to bake fairly early and can certainly follow a recipe for most things. But the entirety of it — from shopping, to planning, to cooking, to cleaning — still seems daunting.
My theory right now is that the whole question of where you are as far as expertise makes a big difference. That’s what I’m hoping to test.
I went as far as baking wholemeal bread - but never cookies, cakes, muffins or cupcakes.
In London there were good street markets and we (1st wife) learned to do Saturday cooking of dishes which could be re-heated or frozen. The invention of slow cookers, microwaves and blenders makes cooking quite different to my Mum’s day.
Good Luck !
I estimate my wife has cooked at least 15,000 meals for me and the family over the course of 37 years.
Now she’s taking a well deserved break. The kids are all grown and gone and I’m doing Paleo-inspired cooking for myself, which she often sits down to sample (loves the way I spice my stir-fry vegetables). She’s even grown to love my home-brewed kefir! Now she tends to nibble and makes one small thing at a time. When the mood strikes her, though, she can still whip up a feast that puts my all efforts to shame.
But now I’m the one who shops more, scanning the newspaper inserts for supermarket ads, aware of the quality and pricing of meats, fish, and vegetables in all the local stores. The one who pushes the shopping cart rules the house, nutritionally speaking.
I haven’t read the book yet, but I agree with the premise. It’s a shame, though, if Pollan gives the impression that cooking has to be an all day affair. Or that it has to be about recipes. Learn to prepare just a few simple healthy meals and you’ll be well on your way.
This reminded me of my granddaughter’s eagerness, recently, to start “helping” with food preparation. She is 2-1/2, and I don’t believe her strong desire to participate in making meals is unusual for children. I recall feeling embarrassed at about age 8 when my girl scout leader asked me if I knew how to separate the yolk from the whites (we were making a white cake) and I tried to fake it—but in truth I had never been taught.
I taught my granddaughter to cut pretend (play-doh) carrots and such with plastic knives long before I actually trusted her with any REAL kitchen implements. Involving the little ones in meal preparation can be as much fun as, say, building a snowman together. It becomes a shared adventure. Of course, in the interests of time, not always practical but, still, worth giving these little people a chance to contribute to the table’s bounty. She beams when others comment on the yummy-ness of her kitchen productions…even if that means, simply, being the one to sprinkle sunflower seeds on the salads or stir the pancake batter. :)