WEBVTT 00:00:05.310 --> 00:00:09.660 So, I'm going to speak to you today partly about why people don't cook anymore 00:00:09.660 --> 00:00:13.220 but also more importantly, I think, why people should. 00:00:13.220 --> 00:00:17.430 It's an idea which sounds so very simple; I hope it will prove revolutionary, 00:00:17.430 --> 00:00:21.120 and I'm going to try and argue why people should spend time in the kitchen. 00:00:21.120 --> 00:00:24.770 Actually, I really wanted to have it written on my hands - "Go cook!" 00:00:24.770 --> 00:00:27.090 I didn't do it, but I'll do it afterwards. 00:00:27.090 --> 00:00:28.590 Think about this for a second - 00:00:28.590 --> 00:00:30.596 In the past 20 years, 00:00:30.596 --> 00:00:34.870 there has been a meteoric rise in interest in cooking. 00:00:34.870 --> 00:00:36.330 I mean, you see it everywhere. 00:00:36.330 --> 00:00:38.010 It's in popular media; 00:00:38.010 --> 00:00:41.710 there are best-selling books about food and about cooking; 00:00:41.710 --> 00:00:44.740 there are TV programs about cooking all over the place; 00:00:44.740 --> 00:00:46.760 there are magazines - 00:00:47.030 --> 00:00:50.580 just everywhere you look in the media, someone is cooking, 00:00:50.580 --> 00:00:53.160 and I should say that this, kind of interestingly, 00:00:53.160 --> 00:00:56.460 also in the past 20 years, has spilled into academic interest. 00:00:56.460 --> 00:00:59.140 You will see food conferences proliferate; 00:00:59.140 --> 00:01:01.650 there are several huge encyclopedias, 00:01:01.650 --> 00:01:03.879 food series, journals, 00:01:03.879 --> 00:01:06.789 and of course, college classes - I teach one of those. 00:01:06.789 --> 00:01:08.690 So it's not just in the popular media; 00:01:08.690 --> 00:01:11.590 it's pretty much everywhere you see people obsessed with food, 00:01:11.590 --> 00:01:12.740 which is great. 00:01:12.740 --> 00:01:15.513 But oddly enough, at the same time that this is happening, 00:01:15.513 --> 00:01:20.659 all evidence shows that there is a decline in actual cooking at home. 00:01:20.659 --> 00:01:22.670 Of course, there are some people who cook, 00:01:22.670 --> 00:01:25.170 some crazy people who just love spending time there. 00:01:25.170 --> 00:01:28.140 Interestingly, the studies show it's men increasingly cooking, 00:01:28.140 --> 00:01:29.400 which is very interesting. 00:01:29.400 --> 00:01:32.479 But on a whole, if we look at the average American, 00:01:32.479 --> 00:01:36.789 we cook less, we spend less time in the kitchen than before, 00:01:36.789 --> 00:01:39.670 and that should seem sort of weird to you, right? 00:01:39.670 --> 00:01:41.789 But I think there's evidence that shows this, 00:01:41.789 --> 00:01:46.079 just sort of anecdotally, if you go through your average supermarket, 00:01:46.079 --> 00:01:49.889 you stroll down the aisles, especially the center aisles - notice - 00:01:49.889 --> 00:01:53.050 you will see a proliferation of convenience foods. 00:01:53.050 --> 00:01:54.360 And what do I mean by that? 00:01:54.360 --> 00:01:55.679 There's canned foods; 00:01:55.679 --> 00:02:00.040 there are frozen foods, a whole huge aisle just for frozen foods; 00:02:00.040 --> 00:02:02.179 and things which I'd call sort of prefab, 00:02:02.179 --> 00:02:04.529 and that doesn't necessarily mean pre-made meals, 00:02:04.529 --> 00:02:08.269 it means things that kind of give you the illusion that you're cooking 00:02:08.269 --> 00:02:09.319 but you're not really. 00:02:09.319 --> 00:02:11.740 A cake mix, I think, is the best best thing, right? 00:02:11.740 --> 00:02:14.599 It takes the same amount of labour to put together a cake mix 00:02:14.599 --> 00:02:16.640 as it does to put together raw ingredients, 00:02:16.640 --> 00:02:18.560 but they charge more for that cake mix. 00:02:18.560 --> 00:02:22.409 And you sort of walk away feeling happy - "I cooked something, look what I made!" 00:02:23.169 --> 00:02:26.060 Now, I want to really ask this, in all seriousness, 00:02:26.060 --> 00:02:29.730 is this a kind of conspiracy on the part of the food industry? 00:02:29.730 --> 00:02:31.030 Did they set out to say, 00:02:31.030 --> 00:02:33.510 "Let's make sure these people don't know how to cook; 00:02:33.510 --> 00:02:34.880 let's ruin all their skills; 00:02:34.880 --> 00:02:38.220 within one generation, we're going to make sure no one can do anything 00:02:38.220 --> 00:02:40.890 so they become dependent on us, on the stuff we make." 00:02:40.890 --> 00:02:43.090 And I don't think anyone, well, maybe they did, 00:02:43.090 --> 00:02:46.330 but I don't think anyone actually sat down and decided that, 00:02:46.330 --> 00:02:47.908 but it's clear what they did 00:02:47.908 --> 00:02:51.929 is they realized that if we do things that are "value-added," 00:02:51.929 --> 00:02:53.920 that's the term the industry uses, 00:02:53.920 --> 00:02:57.829 if we can charge more for product because we have prepared it - 00:02:57.829 --> 00:02:59.980 we've done something to it, so it costs more - 00:02:59.980 --> 00:03:01.671 we'll increase our profit margins. 00:03:01.671 --> 00:03:02.555 Very simple. 00:03:02.555 --> 00:03:06.739 You take a box of Tater Tots and the same weight of potatoes, 00:03:06.739 --> 00:03:08.410 these cost a lot more; 00:03:08.410 --> 00:03:11.790 Tater Tots make more profit, so they will do that sort of thing for you. 00:03:11.790 --> 00:03:15.649 Okay? Again, a prefab food is to make profit, right? 00:03:15.649 --> 00:03:20.059 Now, I was thinking, well, okay, so people eat some processed food, 00:03:20.059 --> 00:03:23.389 but the statistics I found are actually slightly alarming. 00:03:23.389 --> 00:03:28.279 Processed food accounts for 80% of food sold in the U.S. 00:03:28.279 --> 00:03:29.970 That's in terms of profits. 00:03:29.970 --> 00:03:32.030 It's not the volume, the weight or anything; 00:03:32.030 --> 00:03:37.573 it's the money that is made in food: 80% of that is not cooked in a real way. 00:03:38.290 --> 00:03:41.750 The USDA says that in terms of volume, 00:03:41.750 --> 00:03:46.149 we eat 31% more packaged food than fresh. 00:03:46.149 --> 00:03:47.681 So, convenience foods are - 00:03:47.681 --> 00:03:49.986 this is a fact, I'm not just making this up - 00:03:49.986 --> 00:03:54.349 are sort of taking over the landscape of our food ways. 00:03:54.349 --> 00:03:56.417 There are other things that are important, 00:03:56.417 --> 00:04:00.050 microwave ovens, you know, simplicity of preparing these things now. 00:04:00.300 --> 00:04:04.140 I think it's also very clear - and this is just anecdotal evidence - 00:04:04.140 --> 00:04:07.640 that eating out has proliferated, and people have done studies on this, 00:04:07.640 --> 00:04:10.850 that we're eating out a lot more, and it's not high-end restaurants, 00:04:10.850 --> 00:04:12.871 especially since the economy has slid, 00:04:12.871 --> 00:04:16.718 it tends to be what they call "downscale casual restaurants," 00:04:16.718 --> 00:04:18.349 things which, I guess - 00:04:18.349 --> 00:04:21.630 just drive up and down Pacific Avenue or across March Lane, 00:04:21.630 --> 00:04:24.956 and you will see, you know, Applebee's, Chili’s, TGIF, 00:04:24.956 --> 00:04:27.559 Red Lobster, Marie Callender's; there's dozens of them! 00:04:27.559 --> 00:04:29.590 That’s not even to mention the fast food, 00:04:29.590 --> 00:04:34.152 just these sort of chain restaurants that are prefab, homogenized, 00:04:34.152 --> 00:04:35.870 things shipped in from elsewhere, 00:04:35.870 --> 00:04:38.680 and of course, just sort of warmed up there, and you eat it, 00:04:38.680 --> 00:04:40.550 but that's on the rise as is takeout, 00:04:40.550 --> 00:04:44.160 that's another phenomenon that is meteoric in rise. 00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:48.670 And the weird thing is, this whole entire phenomenon, 00:04:48.670 --> 00:04:54.240 is the more we watch cooking on TV and read about it magazines, 00:04:54.240 --> 00:04:56.550 the less we actually do it, okay? 00:04:56.550 --> 00:04:59.190 It's sort of like sports or sex, right? 00:04:59.190 --> 00:05:00.680 People want to watch it a lot, 00:05:00.680 --> 00:05:03.690 but the more we watch of it, the less of it actually happens. 00:05:03.690 --> 00:05:07.050 I don't know how they know that about sex but, it's ... 00:05:07.050 --> 00:05:08.393 (Laughter) 00:05:08.393 --> 00:05:10.580 What's weird is - stop and think for a second - 00:05:10.580 --> 00:05:12.830 these are really biological necessities, right? 00:05:12.830 --> 00:05:15.260 We need to eat, feed ourselves. 00:05:15.260 --> 00:05:17.980 We need to compete; that's hardwired in our systems. 00:05:17.980 --> 00:05:19.320 We need to reproduce. 00:05:19.320 --> 00:05:21.900 And yet, as a society, we're not doing so much of that, 00:05:21.900 --> 00:05:24.135 we're not as good at it as we used to be. 00:05:24.135 --> 00:05:25.240 I don't know. 00:05:25.550 --> 00:05:30.115 In any case, it is what food historians call "deskilling," 00:05:30.970 --> 00:05:32.330 and I think you can see it. 00:05:32.330 --> 00:05:35.050 You just turn on the TV and watch any food TV program; 00:05:35.050 --> 00:05:37.250 it's really not about instruction anymore. 00:05:37.250 --> 00:05:40.590 I mean, in the days of Julia Child, she'd stand in front of the table, 00:05:40.590 --> 00:05:43.170 flop a chicken down and say, "Here's how to cut it up." 00:05:43.170 --> 00:05:45.139 That just doesn't happen anymore, right? 00:05:45.139 --> 00:05:48.210 It's now about entertainment; it's now about competition; 00:05:48.210 --> 00:05:51.699 it's about, you know, someone trying to build the highest cake; 00:05:51.699 --> 00:05:54.270 it's about eating weird things; it's about traveling - 00:05:54.290 --> 00:05:57.560 very little of it is actually instruction anymore. 00:05:58.140 --> 00:06:01.822 Now here's a question - I'm a historian, so I always ask, 00:06:01.822 --> 00:06:05.330 "If we cook less, what's the real evidence?" 00:06:05.330 --> 00:06:08.500 That implies that in the past, people must have cooked more, right? 00:06:08.500 --> 00:06:10.731 Somehow they were cooking up a storm back then, 00:06:10.731 --> 00:06:13.310 and today, we just don't anymore. 00:06:13.310 --> 00:06:16.740 Well, the evidence is a little contradictory, I have to admit. 00:06:16.740 --> 00:06:18.535 You know, if we look at the past, 00:06:18.535 --> 00:06:21.210 we tend to think that cheap, fast restaurants 00:06:21.210 --> 00:06:23.410 are a modern phenomenon - they are not. 00:06:23.410 --> 00:06:27.940 Every city would have had its, you know, sort of cafeterias and taverns 00:06:27.940 --> 00:06:32.070 and places where you could just go and find cheap, quick food. 00:06:32.070 --> 00:06:35.564 Fast food is its own phenomenon, but it exists in the past also. 00:06:35.819 --> 00:06:37.290 There also - 00:06:37.800 --> 00:06:41.150 Very interestingly, if you look at the way people lived in cities, 00:06:41.150 --> 00:06:44.000 tenements often didn't have cooking facilities. 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:46.969 That means people had to eat out, necessarily. 00:06:47.579 --> 00:06:49.680 There were also things like boarding houses, 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:52.476 where you'd live there, and they would feed you, 00:06:52.476 --> 00:06:54.370 and that's a very common phenomenon, 00:06:54.370 --> 00:06:56.124 just a hundred years ago. 00:06:56.760 --> 00:06:58.669 So what other kind of evidence is there? 00:06:58.669 --> 00:07:01.527 If you look at cookbooks per se - 00:07:02.550 --> 00:07:04.040 I like to tell people cookbooks 00:07:04.040 --> 00:07:07.120 are absolutely no indication of what people in the past ate 00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:08.479 nor today, for that matter. 00:07:08.479 --> 00:07:09.930 They're really aspirational. 00:07:09.930 --> 00:07:12.120 People read them; they're sort of, you know, 00:07:12.120 --> 00:07:14.750 they're prescriptive, they're not descriptive. 00:07:14.750 --> 00:07:18.610 You open them up, sit in your armchair, say, "Oh, wouldn't that be nice to make?" 00:07:18.610 --> 00:07:20.230 you put it away, right? 00:07:20.230 --> 00:07:22.050 Rarely do people cook out of them, 00:07:22.050 --> 00:07:24.048 but I do have to say, 00:07:24.048 --> 00:07:28.780 150 years ago, cookbooks were a lot more complicated than they are now. 00:07:28.780 --> 00:07:31.979 The techniques that they're talking about, the range of ingredients, 00:07:31.979 --> 00:07:33.929 I mean, even 200 years ago, 00:07:33.929 --> 00:07:36.260 there's a recipe for how to cook a whole turtle, 00:07:36.260 --> 00:07:39.459 I mean things that we just would never think of doing anymore. 00:07:39.849 --> 00:07:44.220 And it is a fact that 150 years ago, there were no convenience foods. 00:07:44.220 --> 00:07:47.620 Canning was not yet - it was invented, but no one was really using it. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:47.620 --> 00:07:50.340 There were no frozen foods; there were no prepared meals, 00:07:50.340 --> 00:07:56.290 and I think also, very importantly, there was a much lower urban populations, 00:07:56.290 --> 00:07:59.736 so people who lived out in the country had to cook if they wanted to eat. 00:07:59.736 --> 00:08:02.340 It doesn't mean it's good, but they had to cook. 00:08:02.940 --> 00:08:04.599 Let me give you some percentages. 00:08:04.599 --> 00:08:07.694 Recently, the percentage of home-cooked meals 00:08:07.694 --> 00:08:09.450 cooked from scratch 00:08:09.450 --> 00:08:15.550 dropped from 72% in 1980 to 59% in 2010, 00:08:15.960 --> 00:08:19.279 I don't know how they document that, but that's statistics, okay? 00:08:19.289 --> 00:08:23.560 Now, looking at this situation, nutritionists have thought about this, 00:08:23.560 --> 00:08:25.860 government bureaus have thought about this, 00:08:25.860 --> 00:08:30.120 obviously the USDA and everyone are thinking, typically, 00:08:30.120 --> 00:08:33.400 "What do we do about this situation? We must educate people." 00:08:33.400 --> 00:08:36.860 And you all know there's been a slew of programs 00:08:36.860 --> 00:08:39.799 like to teach cooking in grade school; 00:08:39.799 --> 00:08:43.219 there have been school gardens, which have been very successful; 00:08:43.219 --> 00:08:46.840 culinary courses in community colleges, extension programs; 00:08:46.840 --> 00:08:48.680 and, of course, more cookbooks. 00:08:48.680 --> 00:08:51.130 They just keep churning these things out. 00:08:51.130 --> 00:08:54.140 There's also a whole brand of nutrition education, 00:08:54.140 --> 00:08:56.800 which means, "Let's try this shape pyramid. 00:08:56.800 --> 00:08:59.140 No, that doesn't work; let's try another pyramid." 00:08:59.140 --> 00:09:01.580 It's all very politically driven, you probably know. 00:09:01.580 --> 00:09:03.910 You know, milk and meat and grain and corn; 00:09:03.910 --> 00:09:08.900 that's what we grow in this country, so that's what shows up on the pyramid. 00:09:08.450 --> 00:09:10.221 And I think the nutrition education - 00:09:10.221 --> 00:09:12.950 the funny thing about it is it never works. 00:09:13.220 --> 00:09:16.659 One of the topics I've written about is nutritional theory 500 years ago. 00:09:16.659 --> 00:09:18.354 No one paid attention to it then, 00:09:18.354 --> 00:09:21.750 and, I think, for the most part, they don't do it today either. 00:09:21.750 --> 00:09:25.930 People really want what tastes good and not really what's good for you. 00:09:26.090 --> 00:09:28.820 And the tendency of these cookbooks and the education, 00:09:28.820 --> 00:09:33.200 in general, has been to simplify simplify, dumb down everything; 00:09:33.200 --> 00:09:36.379 if we have to tell them how to boil water, we will. 00:09:36.589 --> 00:09:40.390 The other thing, which is my own personal ax to grind, 00:09:40.390 --> 00:09:43.000 is the modern recipe format. 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:45.329 Think of what happens when you open up a cookbook. 00:09:45.329 --> 00:09:47.260 It has to be a list of ingredients; 00:09:47.260 --> 00:09:49.630 it's assuming you work in a professional kitchen - 00:09:49.630 --> 00:09:51.930 we'll need your mise-en-place. 00:09:52.110 --> 00:09:54.860 It has very precise measurements; 00:09:54.860 --> 00:09:58.260 if you put a quarter-of-an-inch more, a cup more of something in that, 00:09:58.260 --> 00:09:59.420 it's going to be ruined, 00:09:59.420 --> 00:10:02.420 or, Heaven forbid, you substitute something else, it won't work. 00:10:02.420 --> 00:10:03.980 This is the implication. 00:10:03.980 --> 00:10:05.610 Very precise cooking times, 00:10:05.610 --> 00:10:08.090 which with the exception of maybe cakes and cookies, 00:10:08.090 --> 00:10:10.750 how long you cook something, really doesn't matter. 00:10:10.890 --> 00:10:13.120 And think of it this way: 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:15.545 how many people here have a GPS device? 00:10:15.545 --> 00:10:17.870 One of those things that navigates for you. 00:10:17.870 --> 00:10:21.680 Think of what that does to your ability to navigate intuitively, 00:10:21.680 --> 00:10:23.150 to look at a map and just say, 00:10:23.150 --> 00:10:25.399 "I'm heading north, maybe I should go this way." 00:10:25.399 --> 00:10:28.270 GPS devices have caused people to drive onto railroad tracks: 00:10:28.270 --> 00:10:31.690 "I'm following the directions, right? It's got to be right." 00:10:31.690 --> 00:10:33.740 The same thing has happened in cooking. 00:10:33.740 --> 00:10:36.485 Precise, precise recipes calls people 00:10:36.485 --> 00:10:39.030 to trust the recipe and not their instincts, 00:10:39.030 --> 00:10:42.460 not what really is going on in the pan, not what they could see! 00:10:42.460 --> 00:10:44.460 It says, "Bake this for one hour." 00:10:44.460 --> 00:10:46.030 Even if it's burning in the oven, 00:10:46.030 --> 00:10:49.210 they'll say, "Oh, it says. The recipe says. I have to follow it." 00:10:49.210 --> 00:10:52.530 Now, I totally understand why cookbook authors do this. 00:10:52.530 --> 00:10:55.250 They need to copyright their work, right? 00:10:55.250 --> 00:10:57.350 They want to write very specific directions. 00:10:57.350 --> 00:11:01.210 They want to be original and new so they can have a niche in the market, 00:11:01.210 --> 00:11:04.430 and they, therefore, have to make things original. 00:11:04.430 --> 00:11:08.144 Therefore, they're going to give you something as precisely worded as possible, 00:11:08.144 --> 00:11:09.690 and I think it is dangerous. 00:11:09.690 --> 00:11:12.610 I think it's really ruined our ability to cook. 00:11:12.610 --> 00:11:14.090 So let me give you my solution. 00:11:14.090 --> 00:11:18.585 I hope this sounds as revolutionary to you as it did when it first occurred to me. 00:11:18.610 --> 00:11:22.240 As I say, let's lose cookbooks; let's toss them in the trash, 00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:23.889 and especially this modern format. 00:11:23.889 --> 00:11:25.054 You're probably saying, 00:11:25.054 --> 00:11:27.500 "Hey, wait a minute, doesn't he write cookbooks?" 00:11:27.500 --> 00:11:29.040 I do, but they're not cookbooks. 00:11:29.040 --> 00:11:32.480 They don't have measurements, cooking times or anything like that. 00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:36.400 They're really to teach you how to cook intuitively; 00:11:36.400 --> 00:11:39.830 they're there to tell you how to use a certain ingredient, 00:11:39.830 --> 00:11:42.310 what kind of technique will work on that ingredient, 00:11:42.310 --> 00:11:44.120 what procedure could work, 00:11:44.120 --> 00:11:46.399 and I think that way it becomes a lot more fun. 00:11:46.399 --> 00:11:50.099 You're not just there, slavishly following my directions because I said so; 00:11:50.099 --> 00:11:53.060 you're finding an ingredient and "Hmm, let's try this with it!" 00:11:53.060 --> 00:11:56.290 And if you fail, so what? There’s food tomorrow. 00:11:56.290 --> 00:11:58.260 But it teaches you to cook. 00:11:58.260 --> 00:12:02.880 I think spending more time in the kitchen, doing these kind of basic tasks, 00:12:02.880 --> 00:12:06.500 I think we have a problem in that we consider that a chore. 00:12:06.500 --> 00:12:09.310 We think this is something you just got to get it over with, 00:12:09.310 --> 00:12:11.010 get it done as quickly as possible; 00:12:11.020 --> 00:12:13.745 taste doesn't really matter, get it in, it's fuel, 00:12:13.745 --> 00:12:15.460 go on to more important things. 00:12:15.460 --> 00:12:17.429 Well, honestly, what is more important? 00:12:17.429 --> 00:12:20.550 I hear people tell me, "I love to eat, I love food, I love this." 00:12:20.550 --> 00:12:22.350 "Did you cook something today?" "No." 00:12:22.350 --> 00:12:24.589 I stopped on the way, or something. 00:12:24.589 --> 00:12:26.654 So I think the important thing to do 00:12:26.654 --> 00:12:31.630 is stop thinking that quick, convenient, easy, simple things 00:12:31.630 --> 00:12:33.050 are worth your energy. 00:12:33.050 --> 00:12:35.690 They're not; they're usually junk. 00:12:35.690 --> 00:12:39.029 And start thinking about things that take a long time 00:12:39.029 --> 00:12:41.779 or that are difficult or even that are dangerous. 00:12:41.779 --> 00:12:44.870 I twisted my back something awful, picking olives the other day - 00:12:44.870 --> 00:12:46.159 I crush them by hand. 00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:48.500 It was a silly thing to do, I don't recommend it, 00:12:48.500 --> 00:12:51.500 but still, it's just the willingness to just get in the kitchen, 00:12:51.500 --> 00:12:53.150 see what happens and have fun. 00:12:53.150 --> 00:12:56.589 I think the result of this idea 00:12:56.589 --> 00:12:59.769 is that people will spend a lot more time in the kitchen, 00:12:59.769 --> 00:13:04.570 perhaps less time watching TV or other non-active, passive, things. 00:13:04.570 --> 00:13:08.280 I think cooking will be a lot more fun; it'll be a creative outlet. 00:13:08.280 --> 00:13:11.540 I hate to say it, but there is no way microwaving popcorn is fun - 00:13:11.540 --> 00:13:13.699 it's just putting something in the microwave - 00:13:13.699 --> 00:13:17.620 or even following someone else's recipe just doesn't sound like fun to me, 00:13:18.140 --> 00:13:19.730 and, I think, most importantly 00:13:19.730 --> 00:13:22.860 is even those people who really love to cook, when do they do it? 00:13:22.860 --> 00:13:25.325 When they're entertaining, maybe on the weekend, 00:13:25.325 --> 00:13:26.930 maybe as a kind of hobby. 00:13:26.930 --> 00:13:30.369 It shouldn't be a hobby; it should be an integral part of people's lives. 00:13:30.369 --> 00:13:33.220 It should be something they do every day. 00:13:33.220 --> 00:13:34.616 Let me make a proposition. 00:13:34.636 --> 00:13:36.980 It's going to sound sort of weird and arbitrary, 00:13:36.980 --> 00:13:41.130 I think people should spend at least an hour every day cooking. 00:13:41.130 --> 00:13:45.870 And I say this only because the US Department of Labor’s survey in 2010 00:13:45.870 --> 00:13:47.520 said that the average American - 00:13:47.520 --> 00:13:51.480 and this is as a head of household; it doesn't count the kids - 00:13:51.480 --> 00:13:55.720 spent 32 minutes each day preparing food and cleaning up. 00:13:55.720 --> 00:13:58.399 That means - let's divide that by several meals, perhaps, 00:13:58.399 --> 00:14:00.040 and half that time is cleaning up, 00:14:00.040 --> 00:14:02.490 so 15 minutes per dinner - that's about average - 00:14:02.490 --> 00:14:06.440 compared to 2 hours and 45 minutes watching TV. 00:14:06.830 --> 00:14:10.740 Unproductive and, obviously, very productive to spend cooking. 00:14:10.740 --> 00:14:12.634 And I think the most important thing 00:14:12.634 --> 00:14:16.639 is that sharing food is fundamentally satisfying; 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:18.910 it's what makes us human: 00:14:18.910 --> 00:14:21.639 feeding, sustaining other people, giving them nourishment, 00:14:21.639 --> 00:14:25.040 taking your creative energy, letting it flow through something living 00:14:25.040 --> 00:14:26.670 and making it sustain us 00:14:26.670 --> 00:14:29.740 is the most valuable, rewarding thing you can do for others, 00:14:29.740 --> 00:14:32.810 and of course, it's the basis of all of our rituals, right? 00:14:32.810 --> 00:14:34.670 You never have a party without eating, 00:14:34.670 --> 00:14:37.420 you never do anything without somehow consummating that 00:14:37.420 --> 00:14:40.130 by sharing food, breaking bread, whatever it may be. 00:14:40.130 --> 00:14:44.050 I think it is fundamentally a spiritual thing for our species. 00:14:44.440 --> 00:14:47.590 You might argue also fresh food is better for your health. 00:14:47.590 --> 00:14:51.450 That's not my primary concern here, but that's what physicians tell us: 00:14:51.450 --> 00:14:54.219 food prepared from scratch tends to have less, 00:14:54.219 --> 00:14:56.639 you know, preservatives and other junk in it, 00:14:56.639 --> 00:15:01.259 but the one thing I will argue is that preparing food from scratch is cheaper. 00:15:01.259 --> 00:15:02.369 Go to McDonald’s. NOTE Paragraph 00:15:02.369 --> 00:15:05.390 I tried to find out the price of a hamburger, online last night; 00:15:05.390 --> 00:15:07.549 it's impossible to find, I don't know why. 00:15:07.549 --> 00:15:09.840 I'm guessing it's probably about three bucks. 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:13.170 And then by the time you get there, by the time you wait in line, 00:15:13.170 --> 00:15:14.830 you know, spend all this time, 00:15:14.830 --> 00:15:17.180 think of how much a pound of ground beef costs - 00:15:17.180 --> 00:15:20.510 let's say you're really money conscious here - $1.99. 00:15:20.510 --> 00:15:22.130 If it's a quarter pound hamburger, 00:15:22.130 --> 00:15:25.180 that's four people you're feeding for $1.99, plus buns, whatever, 00:15:25.180 --> 00:15:28.619 it's always cheaper to cook at home, always, always. 00:15:29.160 --> 00:15:32.390 And I think, also, knowing more about food and where it comes from, 00:15:32.390 --> 00:15:33.525 how it’s processed 00:15:33.525 --> 00:15:36.420 will inevitably make people more responsible eaters. 00:15:36.420 --> 00:15:37.950 They're going to start thinking, 00:15:37.950 --> 00:15:41.029 "How does this food choice impact the environment? 00:15:41.029 --> 00:15:45.730 Was this animal sustainably raised and in concern for its own welfare?" 00:15:45.730 --> 00:15:48.299 They'll start thinking about things like food security. 00:15:48.299 --> 00:15:50.740 By that I don't mean poop poisoning the food supply, 00:15:50.740 --> 00:15:53.080 I mean the access that people have to food. 00:15:53.080 --> 00:15:56.120 One of my favorite exercises to do with my food class 00:15:56.120 --> 00:16:00.920 is I have half the class go to a supermarket right south of campus, 00:16:00.920 --> 00:16:04.889 and another go to a supermarket uptown, more affluent neighborhood. 00:16:04.889 --> 00:16:06.880 The food is cheaper uptown. 00:16:06.880 --> 00:16:09.360 The further south you go, the more expensive it gets. 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:12.420 The people who don't have the money to spend pay more 00:16:12.420 --> 00:16:16.220 because there's fewer supermarkets - it's not as profitable, obviously. 00:16:16.220 --> 00:16:18.592 That's a weird thing in this country. 00:16:20.459 --> 00:16:23.870 I think also when you start cooking from ingredients, 00:16:23.870 --> 00:16:26.650 you feel bad wasting food. 00:16:26.650 --> 00:16:28.160 By that I mean just an animal. 00:16:28.160 --> 00:16:30.650 Imagine you're buying a big hunk of animal, 00:16:30.650 --> 00:16:31.730 you feel kind of bad: 00:16:31.730 --> 00:16:35.650 this animal is giving its life for me, and I'm tossing some of it in the trash. 00:16:35.650 --> 00:16:36.804 You don't feel that way 00:16:36.804 --> 00:16:40.298 when you get an unidentifiable piece of slab of meat in a plastic package. 00:16:40.298 --> 00:16:43.870 That's not an animal, that’s a piece of meat; 00:16:43.870 --> 00:16:45.810 it doesn't come from anyone. 00:16:45.810 --> 00:16:48.290 I think it will make us think more carefully 00:16:48.290 --> 00:16:51.390 about what we eat, in better ways, and not waste food. 00:16:51.390 --> 00:16:54.880 Food waste is one of the biggest problems in this country. 00:16:54.890 --> 00:16:57.710 Most importantly, I think food will taste better. 00:16:57.710 --> 00:17:00.420 When people start trusting their instincts in the kitchen, 00:17:00.420 --> 00:17:04.659 it will not be laden with artificial flavor enhancers and salt and sugar. 00:17:04.659 --> 00:17:06.880 Food will start to taste like itself again, 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:07.969 and I have to say, 00:17:07.969 --> 00:17:12.560 when people ask me where I live, I say Central Valley, San Joaquin Valley. 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:14.500 The best thing about living here 00:17:14.500 --> 00:17:19.040 is unfathomably good produce, fruits and vegetables, 00:17:19.040 --> 00:17:21.910 great wine just north of town, asparagus in the Delta - 00:17:21.910 --> 00:17:24.590 I mean, the best thing about living here is the food, 00:17:24.590 --> 00:17:27.470 and yet people don't seem to be so thrilled about it. 00:17:27.470 --> 00:17:29.568 Let me tell you a very brief, quick story. 00:17:29.568 --> 00:17:32.300 Several years ago, it was announced in the Stockton record 00:17:32.300 --> 00:17:35.341 that we would be getting our own Olive Garden. 00:17:35.341 --> 00:17:37.770 This was a cause for celebration because, of course, 00:17:37.770 --> 00:17:39.660 it's an index of material prosperity. 00:17:39.660 --> 00:17:42.470 If they will open an Olive Garden in town, everyone's happy. 00:17:42.470 --> 00:17:47.030 And the Stockton Record reporter said, "Will you say a couple of comments?" 00:17:47.030 --> 00:17:50.230 and I said, "Well, I've only eaten in an Olive Garden once or twice, 00:17:50.230 --> 00:17:53.200 a long time ago, on the East Coast, and it was deplorable! 00:17:53.200 --> 00:17:56.850 It was absolutely disgusting, vile, heinous filth!" 00:17:57.300 --> 00:17:59.780 I said something like that, I don't know ... 00:17:59.780 --> 00:18:02.570 And the guy, of course, quoted me on that, 00:18:03.150 --> 00:18:04.850 and everyone in Stockton seems to, 00:18:04.850 --> 00:18:08.780 "How dare you? We love Olive Garden! I take my grandpa there, and he loves it!" 00:18:08.780 --> 00:18:12.290 And I was like, "Okay, do you know how Olive Garden makes that food? 00:18:12.290 --> 00:18:14.060 They don't go to Italy to train. 00:18:14.060 --> 00:18:18.180 They get a little package, and they microwave it, serve it to you. 00:18:18.180 --> 00:18:20.660 Sorry, they don't eat greasy breadsticks in Italy, 00:18:20.660 --> 00:18:22.310 they just don't do it." 00:18:22.590 --> 00:18:26.340 Even apart from that, the part that this reporter did not mention 00:18:26.340 --> 00:18:30.100 is that I said, "We have the best food in the whole country, right here, 00:18:30.100 --> 00:18:32.720 and people are going to Olive Garden, that's pathetic!" 00:18:33.420 --> 00:18:34.400 Another thing - 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:39.630 I think cooking your food is going to make you appreciate the seasons, 00:18:39.630 --> 00:18:41.485 appreciate that when something is good, 00:18:41.485 --> 00:18:43.498 you eat it every day, you glut on it, 00:18:43.498 --> 00:18:46.280 and then you forget about it for the rest of the year. 00:18:46.280 --> 00:18:47.814 When you go into the supermarket 00:18:47.814 --> 00:18:50.684 and you see those sad, pathetic fruits or tomatoes 00:18:50.684 --> 00:18:52.400 that have been sitting on the shelf, 00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:54.030 they're not grown for flavor, 00:18:54.030 --> 00:18:57.190 they're grown so they can ship and look nice when they arrive. 00:18:57.190 --> 00:19:00.230 And people wonder, why don’t children eat fruits and vegetables? 00:19:00.230 --> 00:19:03.542 Well, they taste awful. It's as simple as that! Right? 00:19:03.542 --> 00:19:04.980 Have them seasonal. 00:19:04.980 --> 00:19:08.850 They should show up a month or so in the summer and then disappear, 00:19:08.850 --> 00:19:10.800 and I think that would be great. 00:19:11.240 --> 00:19:13.580 And in conclusion, let me just say 00:19:13.580 --> 00:19:18.330 that I think cooking from scratch, and especially without recipes, 00:19:18.330 --> 00:19:21.480 without the kind of trepidation or fear that you're going to fail 00:19:21.480 --> 00:19:23.150 and not impress people, who cares? 00:19:23.150 --> 00:19:25.780 I think the more people get in the kitchen and have fun, 00:19:25.780 --> 00:19:28.000 the better food will taste, in general, 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:31.170 the more connected people will be to their food, 00:19:31.170 --> 00:19:34.330 and the more willing they will be to spend time in the kitchen 00:19:34.330 --> 00:19:35.620 and to share their food, 00:19:35.620 --> 00:19:38.330 and I have to say, that I hope that the attitude 00:19:38.330 --> 00:19:40.940 that somehow cooking is not time well spent - 00:19:40.940 --> 00:19:44.040 there are surveys that suggests Americans don't think that - 00:19:44.040 --> 00:19:45.668 I think it's completely erroneous. 00:19:45.668 --> 00:19:48.400 It's the best time you can possibly spend, 00:19:48.400 --> 00:19:50.280 fitting it into your working schedule - 00:19:50.280 --> 00:19:51.301 my God, 00:19:51.301 --> 00:19:54.650 if I think of all the time getting my kids to one place or another - 00:19:54.650 --> 00:19:58.150 but cooking is absolutely essential, and without it, we would not exist. 00:19:58.450 --> 00:19:59.460 Thank you. 00:19:59.460 --> 00:20:01.380 (Applause)