0:00:05.310,0:00:09.660
So, I'm going to speak to you today[br]partly about why people don't cook anymore

0:00:09.660,0:00:13.220
but also more importantly,[br]I think, why people should.

0:00:13.220,0:00:17.430
It's an idea which sounds so very simple;[br]I hope it will prove revolutionary,

0:00:17.430,0:00:21.120
and I'm going to try and argue why[br]people should spend time in the kitchen.

0:00:21.120,0:00:24.770
Actually, I really wanted to have it[br]written on my hands - "Go cook!"

0:00:24.770,0:00:27.090
I didn't do it, but I'll do it afterwards.

0:00:27.090,0:00:28.590
Think about this for a second -

0:00:28.590,0:00:30.596
In the past 20 years,

0:00:30.596,0:00:34.870
there has been a meteoric rise[br]in interest in cooking.

0:00:34.870,0:00:36.330
I mean, you see it everywhere.

0:00:36.330,0:00:38.010
It's in popular media;

0:00:38.010,0:00:41.710
there are best-selling books[br]about food and about cooking;

0:00:41.710,0:00:44.740
there are TV programs[br]about cooking all over the place;

0:00:44.740,0:00:46.760
there are magazines -

0:00:47.030,0:00:50.580
just everywhere you look[br]in the media, someone is cooking,

0:00:50.580,0:00:53.160
and I should say that this,[br]kind of interestingly,

0:00:53.160,0:00:56.460
also in the past 20 years,[br]has spilled into academic interest.

0:00:56.460,0:00:59.140
You will see food conferences proliferate;

0:00:59.140,0:01:01.650
there are several huge encyclopedias,

0:01:01.650,0:01:03.879
food series, journals,

0:01:03.879,0:01:06.789
and of course, college classes -[br]I teach one of those.

0:01:06.789,0:01:08.690
So it's not just in the popular media;

0:01:08.690,0:01:11.590
it's pretty much everywhere[br]you see people obsessed with food,

0:01:11.590,0:01:12.740
which is great.

0:01:12.740,0:01:15.513
But oddly enough, at the same time[br]that this is happening,

0:01:15.513,0:01:20.659
all evidence shows that there is[br]a decline in actual cooking at home.

0:01:20.659,0:01:22.670
Of course, there are some people who cook,

0:01:22.670,0:01:25.170
some crazy people[br]who just love spending time there.

0:01:25.170,0:01:28.140
Interestingly, the studies show[br]it's men increasingly cooking,

0:01:28.140,0:01:29.400
which is very interesting.

0:01:29.400,0:01:32.479
But on a whole, if we look[br]at the average American,

0:01:32.479,0:01:36.789
we cook less, we spend less time[br]in the kitchen than before,

0:01:36.789,0:01:39.670
and that should seem[br]sort of weird to you, right?

0:01:39.670,0:01:41.789
But I think there's evidence[br]that shows this,

0:01:41.789,0:01:46.079
just sort of anecdotally, if you go[br]through your average supermarket,

0:01:46.079,0:01:49.889
you stroll down the aisles,[br]especially the center aisles - notice -

0:01:49.889,0:01:53.050
you will see a proliferation[br]of convenience foods.

0:01:53.050,0:01:54.360
And what do I mean by that?

0:01:54.360,0:01:55.679
There's canned foods;

0:01:55.679,0:02:00.040
there are frozen foods,[br]a whole huge aisle just for frozen foods;

0:02:00.040,0:02:02.179
and things which I'd call sort of prefab,

0:02:02.179,0:02:04.529
and that doesn't necessarily [br]mean pre-made meals,

0:02:04.529,0:02:08.269
it means things that kind of give you[br]the illusion that you're cooking

0:02:08.269,0:02:09.319
but you're not really.

0:02:09.319,0:02:11.740
A cake mix, I think,[br]is the best best thing, right?

0:02:11.740,0:02:14.599
It takes the same amount of labour[br]to put together a cake mix

0:02:14.599,0:02:16.640
as it does to put together[br]raw ingredients,

0:02:16.640,0:02:18.560
but they charge more for that cake mix.

0:02:18.560,0:02:22.409
And you sort of walk away feeling happy -[br]"I cooked something, look what I made!"

0:02:23.169,0:02:26.060
Now, I want to really ask this,[br]in all seriousness,

0:02:26.060,0:02:29.730
is this a kind of conspiracy[br]on the part of the food industry?

0:02:29.730,0:02:31.030
Did they set out to say,

0:02:31.030,0:02:33.510
"Let's make sure these people[br]don't know how to cook;

0:02:33.510,0:02:34.880
let's ruin all their skills;

0:02:34.880,0:02:38.220
within one generation, we're going[br]to make sure no one can do anything

0:02:38.220,0:02:40.890
so they become dependent on us,[br]on the stuff we make."

0:02:40.890,0:02:43.090
And I don't think anyone,[br]well, maybe they did,

0:02:43.090,0:02:46.330
but I don't think anyone[br]actually sat down and decided that,

0:02:46.330,0:02:47.908
but it's clear what they did

0:02:47.908,0:02:51.929
is they realized that if we do things[br]that are "value-added,"

0:02:51.929,0:02:53.920
that's the term the industry uses,

0:02:53.920,0:02:57.829
if we can charge more for product[br]because we have prepared it -

0:02:57.829,0:02:59.980
we've done something to it,[br]so it costs more -

0:02:59.980,0:03:01.671
we'll increase our profit margins.

0:03:01.671,0:03:02.555
Very simple.

0:03:02.555,0:03:06.739
You take a box of Tater Tots[br]and the same weight of potatoes,

0:03:06.739,0:03:08.410
these cost a lot more;

0:03:08.410,0:03:11.790
Tater Tots make more profit, so they[br]will do that sort of thing for you.

0:03:11.790,0:03:15.649
Okay? Again, a prefab food[br]is to make profit, right?

0:03:15.649,0:03:20.059
Now, I was thinking, well, okay,[br]so people eat some processed food,

0:03:20.059,0:03:23.389
but the statistics I found[br]are actually slightly alarming.

0:03:23.389,0:03:28.279
Processed food accounts for[br]80% of food sold in the U.S.

0:03:28.279,0:03:29.970
That's in terms of profits.

0:03:29.970,0:03:32.030
It's not the volume,[br]the weight or anything;

0:03:32.030,0:03:37.573
it's the money that is made in food:[br]80% of that is not cooked in a real way.

0:03:38.290,0:03:41.750
The USDA says that in terms of volume,

0:03:41.750,0:03:46.149
we eat 31% more packaged food than fresh.

0:03:46.149,0:03:47.681
So, convenience foods are -

0:03:47.681,0:03:49.986
this is a fact,[br]I'm not just making this up -

0:03:49.986,0:03:54.349
are sort of taking over[br]the landscape of our food ways.

0:03:54.349,0:03:56.417
There are other things that are important,

0:03:56.417,0:04:00.050
microwave ovens, you know,[br]simplicity of preparing these things now.

0:04:00.300,0:04:04.140
I think it's also very clear -[br]and this is just anecdotal evidence -

0:04:04.140,0:04:07.640
that eating out has proliferated,[br]and people have done studies on this,

0:04:07.640,0:04:10.850
that we're eating out a lot more,[br]and it's not high-end restaurants,

0:04:10.850,0:04:12.871
especially since the economy has slid,

0:04:12.871,0:04:16.718
it tends to be what they call[br]"downscale casual restaurants,"

0:04:16.718,0:04:18.349
things which, I guess -

0:04:18.349,0:04:21.630
just drive up and down Pacific Avenue[br]or across March Lane,

0:04:21.630,0:04:24.956
and you will see, you know,[br]Applebee's, Chili’s, TGIF,

0:04:24.956,0:04:27.559
Red Lobster, Marie Callender's;[br]there's dozens of them!

0:04:27.559,0:04:29.590
That’s not even to mention the fast food,

0:04:29.590,0:04:34.152
just these sort of chain restaurants[br]that are prefab, homogenized,

0:04:34.152,0:04:35.870
things shipped in from elsewhere,

0:04:35.870,0:04:38.680
and of course, just sort of[br]warmed up there, and you eat it,

0:04:38.680,0:04:40.550
but that's on the rise as is takeout,

0:04:40.550,0:04:44.160
that's another phenomenon[br]that is meteoric in rise.

0:04:44.480,0:04:48.670
And the weird thing is,[br]this whole entire phenomenon,

0:04:48.670,0:04:54.240
is the more we watch cooking on TV[br]and read about it magazines,

0:04:54.240,0:04:56.550
the less we actually do it, okay?

0:04:56.550,0:04:59.190
It's sort of like sports or sex, right?

0:04:59.190,0:05:00.680
People want to watch it a lot,

0:05:00.680,0:05:03.690
but the more we watch of it,[br]the less of it actually happens.

0:05:03.690,0:05:07.050
I don't know how they know that[br]about sex but, it's ...

0:05:07.050,0:05:08.393
(Laughter)

0:05:08.393,0:05:10.580
What's weird is -[br]stop and think for a second -

0:05:10.580,0:05:12.830
these are really[br]biological necessities, right?

0:05:12.830,0:05:15.260
We need to eat, feed ourselves.

0:05:15.260,0:05:17.980
We need to compete;[br]that's hardwired in our systems.

0:05:17.980,0:05:19.320
We need to reproduce.

0:05:19.320,0:05:21.900
And yet, as a society,[br]we're not doing so much of that,

0:05:21.900,0:05:24.135
we're not as good at it [br]as we used to be.

0:05:24.135,0:05:25.240
I don't know.

0:05:25.550,0:05:30.115
In any case, it is what [br]food historians call "deskilling,"

0:05:30.970,0:05:32.330
and I think you can see it.

0:05:32.330,0:05:35.050
You just turn on the TV[br]and watch any food TV program;

0:05:35.050,0:05:37.250
it's really not about instruction anymore.

0:05:37.250,0:05:40.590
I mean, in the days of Julia Child,[br]she'd stand in front of the table,

0:05:40.590,0:05:43.170
flop a chicken down and say,[br]"Here's how to cut it up."

0:05:43.170,0:05:45.139
That just doesn't happen anymore, right?

0:05:45.139,0:05:48.210
It's now about entertainment;[br]it's now about competition;

0:05:48.210,0:05:51.699
it's about, you know, someone[br]trying to build the highest cake;

0:05:51.699,0:05:54.270
it's about eating weird things;[br]it's about traveling -

0:05:54.290,0:05:57.560
very little of it is actually [br]instruction anymore.

0:05:58.140,0:06:01.822
Now here's a question -[br]I'm a historian, so I always ask,

0:06:01.822,0:06:05.330
"If we cook less,[br]what's the real evidence?"

0:06:05.330,0:06:08.500
That implies that in the past,[br]people must have cooked more, right?

0:06:08.500,0:06:10.731
Somehow they were cooking up[br]a storm back then,

0:06:10.731,0:06:13.310
and today, we just don't anymore.

0:06:13.310,0:06:16.740
Well, the evidence is a little[br]contradictory, I have to admit.

0:06:16.740,0:06:18.535
You know, if we look at the past,

0:06:18.535,0:06:21.210
we tend to think[br]that cheap, fast restaurants

0:06:21.210,0:06:23.410
are a modern phenomenon - they are not.

0:06:23.410,0:06:27.940
Every city would have had its,[br]you know, sort of cafeterias and taverns

0:06:27.940,0:06:32.070
and places where you could just go[br]and find cheap, quick food.

0:06:32.070,0:06:35.564
Fast food is its own phenomenon,[br]but it exists in the past also.

0:06:35.819,0:06:37.290
There also -

0:06:37.800,0:06:41.150
Very interestingly, if you look[br]at the way people lived in cities,

0:06:41.150,0:06:44.000
tenements often didn't have[br]cooking facilities.

0:06:44.000,0:06:46.969
That means people had to [br]eat out, necessarily.

0:06:47.579,0:06:49.680
There were also things[br]like boarding houses,

0:06:49.680,0:06:52.476
where you'd live there,[br]and they would feed you,

0:06:52.476,0:06:54.370
and that's a very common phenomenon,

0:06:54.370,0:06:56.124
just a hundred years ago.

0:06:56.760,0:06:58.669
So what other kind of evidence is there?

0:06:58.669,0:07:01.527
If you look at cookbooks per se -

0:07:02.550,0:07:04.040
I like to tell people cookbooks

0:07:04.040,0:07:07.120
are absolutely no indication[br]of what people in the past ate

0:07:07.120,0:07:08.479
nor today, for that matter.

0:07:08.479,0:07:09.930
They're really aspirational.

0:07:09.930,0:07:12.120
People read them;[br]they're sort of, you know,

0:07:12.120,0:07:14.750
they're prescriptive,[br]they're not descriptive.

0:07:14.750,0:07:18.610
You open them up, sit in your armchair,[br]say, "Oh, wouldn't that be nice to make?"

0:07:18.610,0:07:20.230
you put it away, right?

0:07:20.230,0:07:22.050
Rarely do people cook out of them,

0:07:22.050,0:07:24.048
but I do have to say,

0:07:24.048,0:07:28.780
150 years ago, cookbooks were[br]a lot more complicated than they are now.

0:07:28.780,0:07:31.979
The techniques that they're talking about,[br]the range of ingredients,

0:07:31.979,0:07:33.929
I mean, even 200 years ago,

0:07:33.929,0:07:36.260
there's a recipe[br]for how to cook a whole turtle,

0:07:36.260,0:07:39.459
I mean things that we just[br]would never think of doing anymore.

0:07:39.849,0:07:44.220
And it is a fact that 150 years ago,[br]there were no convenience foods.

0:07:44.220,0:07:47.620
Canning was not yet - it was invented,[br]but no one was really using it.

0:07:47.620,0:07:50.340
There were no frozen foods;[br]there were no prepared meals,

0:07:50.340,0:07:56.290
and I think also, very importantly,[br]there was a much lower urban populations,

0:07:56.290,0:07:59.736
so people who lived out in the country[br]had to cook if they wanted to eat.

0:07:59.736,0:08:02.340
It doesn't mean it's good,[br]but they had to cook.

0:08:02.940,0:08:04.599
Let me give you some percentages.

0:08:04.599,0:08:07.694
Recently, the percentage[br]of home-cooked meals

0:08:07.694,0:08:09.450
cooked from scratch

0:08:09.450,0:08:15.550
dropped from 72% in 1980 to 59% in 2010,

0:08:15.960,0:08:19.279
I don't know how they document that,[br]but that's statistics, okay?

0:08:19.289,0:08:23.560
Now, looking at this situation,[br]nutritionists have thought about this,

0:08:23.560,0:08:25.860
government bureaus[br]have thought about this,

0:08:25.860,0:08:30.120
obviously the USDA and everyone[br]are thinking, typically,

0:08:30.120,0:08:33.400
"What do we do about this situation?[br]We must educate people."

0:08:33.400,0:08:36.860
And you all know there's been[br]a slew of programs

0:08:36.860,0:08:39.799
like to teach cooking in grade school;

0:08:39.799,0:08:43.219
there have been school gardens,[br]which have been very successful;

0:08:43.219,0:08:46.840
culinary courses in community colleges,[br]extension programs;

0:08:46.840,0:08:48.680
and, of course, more cookbooks.

0:08:48.680,0:08:51.130
They just keep churning these things out.

0:08:51.130,0:08:54.140
There's also a whole brand[br]of nutrition education,

0:08:54.140,0:08:56.800
which means, "Let's try[br]this shape pyramid.

0:08:56.800,0:08:59.140
No, that doesn't work;[br]let's try another pyramid."

0:08:59.140,0:09:01.580
It's all very politically driven,[br]you probably know.

0:09:01.580,0:09:03.910
You know, milk and meat[br]and grain and corn;

0:09:03.910,0:09:08.900
that's what we grow in this country,[br]so that's what shows up on the pyramid.

0:09:08.450,0:09:10.221
And I think the nutrition education -

0:09:10.221,0:09:12.950
the funny thing about it[br]is it never works.

0:09:13.220,0:09:16.659
One of the topics I've written about[br]is nutritional theory 500 years ago.

0:09:16.659,0:09:18.354
No one paid attention to it then,

0:09:18.354,0:09:21.750
and, I think, for the most part,[br]they don't do it today either.

0:09:21.750,0:09:25.930
People really want what tastes good[br]and not really what's good for you.

0:09:26.090,0:09:28.820
And the tendency of these cookbooks[br]and the education,

0:09:28.820,0:09:33.200
in general, has been to simplify[br]simplify, dumb down everything;

0:09:33.200,0:09:36.379
if we have to tell them[br]how to boil water, we will.

0:09:36.589,0:09:40.390
The other thing, which is [br]my own personal ax to grind,

0:09:40.390,0:09:43.000
is the modern recipe format.

0:09:43.000,0:09:45.329
Think of what happens[br]when you open up a cookbook.

0:09:45.329,0:09:47.260
It has to be a list of ingredients;

0:09:47.260,0:09:49.630
it's assuming you work[br]in a professional kitchen -

0:09:49.630,0:09:51.930
we'll need your mise-en-place.

0:09:52.110,0:09:54.860
It has very precise measurements;

0:09:54.860,0:09:58.260
if you put a quarter-of-an-inch more,[br]a cup more of something in that,

0:09:58.260,0:09:59.420
it's going to be ruined,

0:09:59.420,0:10:02.420
or, Heaven forbid, you substitute[br]something else, it won't work.

0:10:02.420,0:10:03.980
This is the implication.

0:10:03.980,0:10:05.610
Very precise cooking times,

0:10:05.610,0:10:08.090
which with the exception[br]of maybe cakes and cookies,

0:10:08.090,0:10:10.750
how long you cook something,[br]really doesn't matter.

0:10:10.890,0:10:13.120
And think of it this way:

0:10:13.120,0:10:15.545
how many people here have a GPS device?

0:10:15.545,0:10:17.870
One of those things[br]that navigates for you.

0:10:17.870,0:10:21.680
Think of what that does[br]to your ability to navigate intuitively,

0:10:21.680,0:10:23.150
to look at a map and just say,

0:10:23.150,0:10:25.399
"I'm heading north,[br]maybe I should go this way."

0:10:25.399,0:10:28.270
GPS devices have caused people[br]to drive onto railroad tracks:

0:10:28.270,0:10:31.690
"I'm following the directions,[br]right? It's got to be right."

0:10:31.690,0:10:33.740
The same thing has happened in cooking.

0:10:33.740,0:10:36.485
Precise, precise recipes calls people

0:10:36.485,0:10:39.030
to trust the recipe[br]and not their instincts,

0:10:39.030,0:10:42.460
not what really is going on in the pan,[br]not what they could see!

0:10:42.460,0:10:44.460
It says, "Bake this for one hour."

0:10:44.460,0:10:46.030
Even if it's burning in the oven,

0:10:46.030,0:10:49.210
they'll say, "Oh, it says.[br]The recipe says. I have to follow it."

0:10:49.210,0:10:52.530
Now, I totally understand[br]why cookbook authors do this.

0:10:52.530,0:10:55.250
They need to copyright their work, right?

0:10:55.250,0:10:57.350
They want to write[br]very specific directions.

0:10:57.350,0:11:01.210
They want to be original and new[br]so they can have a niche in the market,

0:11:01.210,0:11:04.430
and they, therefore,[br]have to make things original.

0:11:04.430,0:11:08.144
Therefore, they're going to give you[br]something as precisely worded as possible,

0:11:08.144,0:11:09.690
and I think it is dangerous.

0:11:09.690,0:11:12.610
I think it's really ruined[br]our ability to cook.

0:11:12.610,0:11:14.090
So let me give you my solution.

0:11:14.090,0:11:18.585
I hope this sounds as revolutionary to you[br]as it did when it first occurred to me.

0:11:18.610,0:11:22.240
As I say, let's lose cookbooks;[br]let's toss them in the trash,

0:11:22.240,0:11:23.889
and especially this modern format.

0:11:23.889,0:11:25.054
You're probably saying,

0:11:25.054,0:11:27.500
"Hey, wait a minute,[br]doesn't he write cookbooks?"

0:11:27.500,0:11:29.040
I do, but they're not cookbooks.

0:11:29.040,0:11:32.480
They don't have measurements,[br]cooking times or anything like that.

0:11:32.480,0:11:36.400
They're really to teach you[br]how to cook intuitively;

0:11:36.400,0:11:39.830
they're there to tell you[br]how to use a certain ingredient,

0:11:39.830,0:11:42.310
what kind of technique will work[br]on that ingredient,

0:11:42.310,0:11:44.120
what procedure could work,

0:11:44.120,0:11:46.399
and I think that way[br]it becomes a lot more fun.

0:11:46.399,0:11:50.099
You're not just there, slavishly[br]following my directions because I said so;

0:11:50.099,0:11:53.060
you're finding an ingredient[br]and "Hmm, let's try this with it!"

0:11:53.060,0:11:56.290
And if you fail, so what?[br]There’s food tomorrow.

0:11:56.290,0:11:58.260
But it teaches you to cook.

0:11:58.260,0:12:02.880
I think spending more time in the kitchen,[br]doing these kind of basic tasks,

0:12:02.880,0:12:06.500
I think we have a problem[br]in that we consider that a chore.

0:12:06.500,0:12:09.310
We think this is something[br]you just got to get it over with,

0:12:09.310,0:12:11.010
get it done as quickly as possible;

0:12:11.020,0:12:13.745
taste doesn't really matter,[br]get it in, it's fuel,

0:12:13.745,0:12:15.460
go on to more important things.

0:12:15.460,0:12:17.429
Well, honestly, what is more important?

0:12:17.429,0:12:20.550
I hear people tell me, "I love to eat,[br]I love food, I love this."

0:12:20.550,0:12:22.350
"Did you cook something today?" "No."

0:12:22.350,0:12:24.589
I stopped on the way, or something.

0:12:24.589,0:12:26.654
So I think the important thing to do

0:12:26.654,0:12:31.630
is stop thinking that quick,[br]convenient, easy, simple things

0:12:31.630,0:12:33.050
are worth your energy.

0:12:33.050,0:12:35.690
They're not; they're usually junk.

0:12:35.690,0:12:39.029
And start thinking about things[br]that take a long time

0:12:39.029,0:12:41.779
or that are difficult[br]or even that are dangerous.

0:12:41.779,0:12:44.870
I twisted my back something awful,[br]picking olives the other day -

0:12:44.870,0:12:46.159
I crush them by hand.

0:12:46.159,0:12:48.500
It was a silly thing to do,[br]I don't recommend it,

0:12:48.500,0:12:51.500
but still, it's just the willingness[br]to just get in the kitchen,

0:12:51.500,0:12:53.150
see what happens and have fun.

0:12:53.150,0:12:56.589
I think the result of this idea

0:12:56.589,0:12:59.769
is that people will spend[br]a lot more time in the kitchen,

0:12:59.769,0:13:04.570
perhaps less time watching TV[br]or other non-active, passive, things.

0:13:04.570,0:13:08.280
I think cooking will be a lot more fun;[br]it'll be a creative outlet.

0:13:08.280,0:13:11.540
I hate to say it, but there is no way[br]microwaving popcorn is fun -

0:13:11.540,0:13:13.699
it's just putting something[br]in the microwave -

0:13:13.699,0:13:17.620
or even following someone else's recipe[br]just doesn't sound like fun to me,

0:13:18.140,0:13:19.730
and, I think, most importantly

0:13:19.730,0:13:22.860
is even those people who really [br]love to cook, when do they do it?

0:13:22.860,0:13:25.325
When they're entertaining,[br]maybe on the weekend,

0:13:25.325,0:13:26.930
maybe as a kind of hobby.

0:13:26.930,0:13:30.369
It shouldn't be a hobby; it should be[br]an integral part of people's lives.

0:13:30.369,0:13:33.220
It should be something they do every day.

0:13:33.220,0:13:34.616
Let me make a proposition.

0:13:34.636,0:13:36.980
It's going to sound[br]sort of weird and arbitrary,

0:13:36.980,0:13:41.130
I think people should spend[br]at least an hour every day cooking.

0:13:41.130,0:13:45.870
And I say this only because the US[br]Department of Labor’s survey in 2010

0:13:45.870,0:13:47.520
said that the average American -

0:13:47.520,0:13:51.480
and this is as a head of household;[br]it doesn't count the kids -

0:13:51.480,0:13:55.720
spent 32 minutes each day[br]preparing food and cleaning up.

0:13:55.720,0:13:58.399
That means - let's divide that[br]by several meals, perhaps,

0:13:58.399,0:14:00.040
and half that time is cleaning up,

0:14:00.040,0:14:02.490
so 15 minutes per dinner -[br]that's about average -

0:14:02.490,0:14:06.440
compared to 2 hours[br]and 45 minutes watching TV.

0:14:06.830,0:14:10.740
Unproductive and, obviously,[br]very productive to spend cooking.

0:14:10.740,0:14:12.634
And I think the most important thing

0:14:12.634,0:14:16.639
is that sharing food[br]is fundamentally satisfying;

0:14:16.639,0:14:18.910
it's what makes us human:

0:14:18.910,0:14:21.639
feeding, sustaining other people,[br]giving them nourishment,

0:14:21.639,0:14:25.040
taking your creative energy,[br]letting it flow through something living

0:14:25.040,0:14:26.670
and making it sustain us

0:14:26.670,0:14:29.740
is the most valuable, rewarding thing[br]you can do for others,

0:14:29.740,0:14:32.810
and of course, it's the basis[br]of all of our rituals, right?

0:14:32.810,0:14:34.670
You never have a party without eating,

0:14:34.670,0:14:37.420
you never do anything[br]without somehow consummating that

0:14:37.420,0:14:40.130
by sharing food, breaking bread,[br]whatever it may be.

0:14:40.130,0:14:44.050
I think it is fundamentally[br]a spiritual thing for our species.

0:14:44.440,0:14:47.590
You might argue also fresh food[br]is better for your health.

0:14:47.590,0:14:51.450
That's not my primary concern here,[br]but that's what physicians tell us:

0:14:51.450,0:14:54.219
food prepared from scratch[br]tends to have less,

0:14:54.219,0:14:56.639
you know, preservatives[br]and other junk in it,

0:14:56.639,0:15:01.259
but the one thing I will argue is that[br]preparing food from scratch is cheaper.

0:15:01.259,0:15:02.369
Go to McDonald’s.

0:15:02.369,0:15:05.390
I tried to find out the price[br]of a hamburger, online last night;

0:15:05.390,0:15:07.549
it's impossible to find, I don't know why.

0:15:07.549,0:15:09.840
I'm guessing it's probably[br]about three bucks.

0:15:09.840,0:15:13.170
And then by the time you get there,[br]by the time you wait in line,

0:15:13.170,0:15:14.830
you know, spend all this time,

0:15:14.830,0:15:17.180
think of how much a pound[br]of ground beef costs -

0:15:17.180,0:15:20.510
let's say you're really[br]money conscious here - $1.99.

0:15:20.510,0:15:22.130
If it's a quarter pound hamburger,

0:15:22.130,0:15:25.180
that's four people you're feeding[br]for $1.99, plus buns, whatever,

0:15:25.180,0:15:28.619
it's always cheaper to cook[br]at home, always, always.

0:15:29.160,0:15:32.390
And I think, also, knowing more[br]about food and where it comes from,

0:15:32.390,0:15:33.525
how it’s processed

0:15:33.525,0:15:36.420
will inevitably make people[br]more responsible eaters.

0:15:36.420,0:15:37.950
They're going to start thinking,

0:15:37.950,0:15:41.029
"How does this food choice[br]impact the environment?

0:15:41.029,0:15:45.730
Was this animal sustainably raised[br]and in concern for its own welfare?"

0:15:45.730,0:15:48.299
They'll start thinking[br]about things like food security.

0:15:48.299,0:15:50.740
By that I don't mean[br]poop poisoning the food supply,

0:15:50.740,0:15:53.080
I mean the access[br]that people have to food.

0:15:53.080,0:15:56.120
One of my favorite exercises[br]to do with my food class

0:15:56.120,0:16:00.920
is I have half the class go to[br]a supermarket right south of campus,

0:16:00.920,0:16:04.889
and another go to a supermarket uptown,[br]more affluent neighborhood.

0:16:04.889,0:16:06.880
The food is cheaper uptown.

0:16:06.880,0:16:09.360
The further south you go,[br]the more expensive it gets.

0:16:09.360,0:16:12.420
The people who don't have[br]the money to spend pay more

0:16:12.420,0:16:16.220
because there's fewer supermarkets -[br]it's not as profitable, obviously.

0:16:16.220,0:16:18.592
That's a weird thing in this country.

0:16:20.459,0:16:23.870
I think also when you start[br]cooking from ingredients,

0:16:23.870,0:16:26.650
you feel bad wasting food.

0:16:26.650,0:16:28.160
By that I mean just an animal.

0:16:28.160,0:16:30.650
Imagine you're buying[br]a big hunk of animal,

0:16:30.650,0:16:31.730
you feel kind of bad:

0:16:31.730,0:16:35.650
this animal is giving its life for me,[br]and I'm tossing some of it in the trash.

0:16:35.650,0:16:36.804
You don't feel that way

0:16:36.804,0:16:40.298
when you get an unidentifiable piece[br]of slab of meat in a plastic package.

0:16:40.298,0:16:43.870
That's not an animal,[br]that’s a piece of meat;

0:16:43.870,0:16:45.810
it doesn't come from anyone.

0:16:45.810,0:16:48.290
I think it will make us[br]think more carefully

0:16:48.290,0:16:51.390
about what we eat, in better ways,[br]and not waste food.

0:16:51.390,0:16:54.880
Food waste is one of the biggest[br]problems in this country.

0:16:54.890,0:16:57.710
Most importantly,[br]I think food will taste better.

0:16:57.710,0:17:00.420
When people start trusting[br]their instincts in the kitchen,

0:17:00.420,0:17:04.659
it will not be laden with artificial[br]flavor enhancers and salt and sugar.

0:17:04.659,0:17:06.880
Food will start to taste[br]like itself again,

0:17:06.880,0:17:07.969
and I have to say,

0:17:07.969,0:17:12.560
when people ask me where I live,[br]I say Central Valley, San Joaquin Valley.

0:17:12.960,0:17:14.500
The best thing about living here

0:17:14.500,0:17:19.040
is unfathomably good produce,[br]fruits and vegetables,

0:17:19.040,0:17:21.910
great wine just north of town,[br]asparagus in the Delta -

0:17:21.910,0:17:24.590
I mean, the best thing[br]about living here is the food,

0:17:24.590,0:17:27.470
and yet people don't seem[br]to be so thrilled about it.

0:17:27.470,0:17:29.568
Let me tell you a very brief, quick story.

0:17:29.568,0:17:32.300
Several years ago, it was announced[br]in the Stockton record

0:17:32.300,0:17:35.341
that we would be getting[br]our own Olive Garden.

0:17:35.341,0:17:37.770
This was a cause for celebration[br]because, of course,

0:17:37.770,0:17:39.660
it's an index of material prosperity.

0:17:39.660,0:17:42.470
If they will open an Olive Garden[br]in town, everyone's happy.

0:17:42.470,0:17:47.030
And the Stockton Record reporter said,[br]"Will you say a couple of comments?"

0:17:47.030,0:17:50.230
and I said, "Well, I've only eaten[br]in an Olive Garden once or twice,

0:17:50.230,0:17:53.200
a long time ago, on the East Coast,[br]and it was deplorable!

0:17:53.200,0:17:56.850
It was absolutely disgusting,[br]vile, heinous filth!"

0:17:57.300,0:17:59.780
I said something like that, [br]I don't know ...

0:17:59.780,0:18:02.570
And the guy, of course, quoted me on that,

0:18:03.150,0:18:04.850
and everyone in Stockton seems to,

0:18:04.850,0:18:08.780
"How dare you? We love Olive Garden![br]I take my grandpa there, and he loves it!"

0:18:08.780,0:18:12.290
And I was like, "Okay, do you know[br]how Olive Garden makes that food?

0:18:12.290,0:18:14.060
They don't go to Italy to train.

0:18:14.060,0:18:18.180
They get a little package,[br]and they microwave it, serve it to you.

0:18:18.180,0:18:20.660
Sorry, they don't eat[br]greasy breadsticks in Italy,

0:18:20.660,0:18:22.310
they just don't do it."

0:18:22.590,0:18:26.340
Even apart from that, the part[br]that this reporter did not mention

0:18:26.340,0:18:30.100
is that I said, "We have the best food[br]in the whole country, right here,

0:18:30.100,0:18:32.720
and people are going[br]to Olive Garden, that's pathetic!"

0:18:33.420,0:18:34.400
Another thing -

0:18:34.400,0:18:39.630
I think cooking your food is going[br]to make you appreciate the seasons,

0:18:39.630,0:18:41.485
appreciate that[br]when something is good,

0:18:41.485,0:18:43.498
you eat it every day, you glut on it,

0:18:43.498,0:18:46.280
and then you forget about it [br]for the rest of the year.

0:18:46.280,0:18:47.814
When you go into the supermarket

0:18:47.814,0:18:50.684
and you see those sad,[br]pathetic fruits or tomatoes

0:18:50.684,0:18:52.400
that have been sitting on the shelf,

0:18:52.400,0:18:54.030
they're not grown for flavor,

0:18:54.030,0:18:57.190
they're grown so they can ship[br]and look nice when they arrive.

0:18:57.190,0:19:00.230
And people wonder, why don’t children[br]eat fruits and vegetables?

0:19:00.230,0:19:03.542
Well, they taste awful.[br]It's as simple as that! Right?

0:19:03.542,0:19:04.980
Have them seasonal.

0:19:04.980,0:19:08.850
They should show up a month or so[br]in the summer and then disappear,

0:19:08.850,0:19:10.800
and I think that would be great.

0:19:11.240,0:19:13.580
And in conclusion, let me just say

0:19:13.580,0:19:18.330
that I think cooking from scratch,[br]and especially without recipes,

0:19:18.330,0:19:21.480
without the kind of trepidation[br]or fear that you're going to fail

0:19:21.480,0:19:23.150
and not impress people, who cares?

0:19:23.150,0:19:25.780
I think the more people[br]get in the kitchen and have fun,

0:19:25.780,0:19:28.000
the better food will taste, in general,

0:19:28.000,0:19:31.170
the more connected[br]people will be to their food,

0:19:31.170,0:19:34.330
and the more willing they will be[br]to spend time in the kitchen

0:19:34.330,0:19:35.620
and to share their food,

0:19:35.620,0:19:38.330
and I have to say,[br]that I hope that the attitude

0:19:38.330,0:19:40.940
that somehow cooking[br]is not time well spent -

0:19:40.940,0:19:44.040
there are surveys that suggests [br]Americans don't think that -

0:19:44.040,0:19:45.668
I think it's completely erroneous.

0:19:45.668,0:19:48.400
It's the best time you can possibly spend,

0:19:48.400,0:19:50.280
fitting it into your working schedule -

0:19:50.280,0:19:51.301
my God,

0:19:51.301,0:19:54.650
if I think of all the time[br]getting my kids to one place or another -

0:19:54.650,0:19:58.150
but cooking is absolutely essential,[br]and without it, we would not exist.

0:19:58.450,0:19:59.460
Thank you.

0:19:59.460,0:20:01.380
(Applause)