Sometimes I wonder if we think enough about the changes in social structure that have occurred over the past 50 years and the impact it has on eating habits and health outcomes. 

Take a trip back to the 1950s, and think June Cleaver from Leave it to Beaver (if you’re too young to know the show, visit http://www.leaveittobeaver.org/).  Her days were spent managing her family.  This was her job.  It was most likely she didn’t have her own car.  Aprons were something she wore every day.  An afterschool snack was ready to go when the boys walked through the door at the end of the day as was a cocktail and dinner when her husband got home from work. 

Fast forward to today, where roughly 60% of women work (75% full-time, 25% part-time).   With the economy as it is, there is even more pressure on all employees, including women, to work longer hours and to do more with less in the office.  At the same time, mom is still the primary manager of the family and the household.  So while she’s headed out the door to work, her other duties have only dropped slightly in comparison to what June did 50 years ago. 

Do we really believe this doesn’t impact how often dinner gets put on the table, whether kids are eating breakfast before school, what gets put on the dinner plate, and whether there are fruits and vegetables in the house? 

Visit www.nuval.com to see a system that scores all foods, even convenience items that help today’s mom get dinner on the table.  Even June would have used NuVal.

A decade ago, I had the opportunity to work with one of the greatest group of people, the nutrition and labeling team at The Pillsbury Company.  Each individual had a unique set of talents, skills and personality traits that perfectly complemented each other.  And everyone respected what each person brought to the table.  It was great.

As you can imagine, many people who work in the food industry are what I would call “foodies.”  They are interested in pretty much every aspect of food, and in general, love to cook.  There were, however, periodic exceptions to this last part, and as you can imagine, it was met by shock and horror by the rest of us.

One day, Missy – one of our 20-something coworkers – asked a question.  “How do you make corn-on-the-cob?”  You can’t imagine how many jaws in the group dropped open.  After all, corn-on-the-cob doesn’t even require a recipe.  How could a person not know how to make corn-on-the-cob?  It was later revealed that Missy didn’t know how to cook squash either.

In reality, I think there are a lot of people like Missy.   People have now become “meal assemblers” vs. cooks.  The microwave is the preferred cooking tool.  Ovens never need to be cleaned because they’re never used.

The question, though, is whether this impacts nutrition or not.  Does a movement toward meal assembly mean that healthy eating habits are out of reach?

The concern with the lack of cooking habits is that it is directly attached to an overall lack of understanding of food.  If kids are not taught to cook, it’s likely they are not being taught the basics about food.  It’s about the total experience with food.  Touching it, understanding it, learning to appreciate the various flavors, how they all fit together, and as a part of this, the nutrition that different foods impart.

The other concern with a lack of cooking knowledge is that these people tend to eat out more, and it’s definitely been shown that foods eaten out contain more calories and less overall nutrition than foods prepared at home.

So what can you do, if you are one of those people who just never learned to cook?  Consider these options:

• Community ed programs often offer basic cooking classes at very reasonable prices.
• Find a cooking mentor.  There are many individuals who would love to share their experience of cooking with you.  Is there a retired, grandma-type in your neighborhood?  She’d be a great cooking mentor!
• Cooking doesn’t need to be difficult.  On the internet, you can find many 30-minute or less, 5 ingredient or less recipes.  These are great starting points.
• Have a cooking party!  Invite all your other friends who don’t have much experience cooking, and require that they bring ingredients for a recipe to cook and share.  Focus the party on cooking a meal together.  In the midst of all the fun, you’ll be learning how to cook.
• Rent the movie Julie and Julia.   It will definitely inspire you to cook!

Visit www.nuval.com for trade up options in your new favorite recipes.