Lifestyle Food Facts: Why We Should Cook More At Home!

You might have heard by now that fast food is (mostly) bad for you. How about putting a frozen pizza in the oven? Or making mac&cheese from a box? I suppose technically, yes, you are “cooking” the food, however, our grandmothers would not recognize this as “cooking”. Feeding ourselves with healthy food is crucial to our well-being and survival. Here are some reasons why:

Food you cook is healthier - you know exactly what’s in it:
When you cook food yourself, using real ingredients, you know exactly what you’re eating. You can make substitutions to tailor your diet. You can include more good stuff (fresh fruit and veg, organic meat, healthy fats etc…) and less Scary Stuff (preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors and flavors etc…). And for those who don’t know, Real Ingredients are those things that your grandmother would recognize as food and ingredients. (For more on this topic, I encourage everyone to read In Defence of Food by Michael Pollan.) And because you control what’s in the food that you’re eating.

 It is less expensive to cook food yourself:
 Contrary to all the hype about how eating at Burger King is cheaper than a home cooked meal, this cliché has turned out not to be true. Now measured in several different ways, the only way fast food is actually “cheaper” is if you compare it solely on calories. Comparing serving size, weight, or nutritional content, home cooked meals come out ahead in price. The fact that fast food is not cheap has also now driven home by other studies. One conducted by University of California – Davis found that those making $60,000 (not the poor) are most likely to visit fast food chains. The CDC reports it is the middle class with more obesity problems than those with less money. But studies also say that households making less than $150,000 a year are “financially strained.” So why not stop eating out and save some money? Of course your time is also valuable. One way to minimize the time you spend shopping is to try an online grocer or a shopping service (there is even one just for college students living in dorms). Or how about giving the shopping list to the neighbors kid and paying them $10 to do the shopping for you? And how about swapping meals with a friend? It is “convenience” and not price that is the reason for people eating out. So try making your cooking easier, and save some money while you are at it.

Food you cook is tastier (even if you kind of suck at cooking):
 No adult fondly remembers a frozen or packaged meal as their favorite unless no one in their home cooked. What brings back good memories? Mom’s ziti sauce or the boxed macaroni and cheese? Grandma’s chicken soup or soup from a can? The answers are obvious, no matter how unoriginal the recipe. With the internet there are literally thousands of recipes to pick from instantaneously, family favorites for years to come at your fingertips. You can even filter out recipes now for only those that are quick and cheap with Yummly (you can also add taste preferences and other food restrictions on the site). EatatHomeCooks can provide you with quick and easy recipes and shopping lists for an entire week.

  Cooking at home is better for the environment:
Cooking your own food, and buying predominately staples and fresh, in-season produce is going to lessen your impact on the environment. Pre-packaged foods are often shipped long distances several times (from field to processing plant to packaging to supermarket), loaded with artificial ingredients, and wrapped in multiple layers of paper, plastic or styrofoam packaging. When you buy fresh real ingredients, you have less packaging in the first place, and generate less waste to throw away.