Is Wholesome Home Cooking A Dying Art?

First off, if you are a mom of a baby under one, don't read this.  It isn't meant for you.  This is the one time in your life that all you should be doing is whatever it takes to survive the first year.  Come back to this article when your youngest is over a year old!

I read an article the other day called "Home Cooking a Dying Art".  A study polled 16500 women and found that over half of them found putting together a nutritious, balanced meal a challenge.  Hundreds said their children wouldn't eat healthy food, and many said they were concerned that their children weren't getting enough exercise.  This article intrigued me.  Why is it hard for women to make healthy meals?  Sure, time plays a huge role.  But this isn't just about time.  There's something more here.

The article went on to say that these mothers haven't been taught how to cook.  This intrigued me even further.  I was raised by a mother who made all her meals from scratch.  I spent much of my childhood watching my mother bake bread, grow fruit and vegetables, and preserve them.  I didn't necessarily learn how to cook, but it was always going on around me, and so when I left home, married and began to raise a family, I naturally turned to these activities as a normal part of mothering.  Even though my mother lives hours away from me, I still phone her to ask her what the ratio of sugar to water is when canning peaches, for my grandmother's wonderful chocolate cake recipe, or what vegetables to start first in the greenhouse.  I didn't really have to learn how to do it: it was already ingrained in me.  So to read about women not knowing HOW to make good meals from scratch was a bit startling to me.

I spent a fair bit of time watching my mother hen take care of her chicks.  She literally taught them EVERYTHING.  Everything she did, was done for her chicks.  She protected them from the other hens.  She kept them warm.  She taught them how to eat, scratch, find water, and preen.  She taught them what to do when danger was present.  She taught them how to roost.  Everything a chicken does, she taught them, and she did it 24 hours of the day.  I was so impressed and touched by her care, even though she was doing only what instinct taught her to do. 

After reading this article I was broadsided by the realization that it is up to me to pass on my knowledge that I gleaned from my mother to my children.  If I expect the next generation to be able to cook whole, healthy meals for their families, then it is up to me to teach them by example and experience. 

There is one other thing that I can do, too.  I can help other women who have not had my life experience, learn how to cook healthy food for their families.  What could be more fun than teaching a friend how to preserve peaches?  Bake bread?  Plant a garden?  These chores that sometimes seem tedious would suddenly come to life if I could have a friend doing it with me. 

No, we don't have to perserve food right now, or cook nutritious meals from scratch.  Our culture has developed into such a one that we can buy anything we like.  But that isn't necessarily a good thing.  With a poor economy we can save money using the skills our ancestors required to survive.  We can protect the health of ourselves, our family and future generations by learning and passing on these skills.  And if you have ever made a batch of jam or homemade bread, you will know there is nothing much more satisfying than to know that you made something delicious and healthy, while saving money. 

Maybe, whole food cooking is becoming a dying art.  But it doesn't have to be.  Make it your goal to LEARN how to cook from scratch.  Take some courses.  Ask your mother, grandmother or friend.  Borrow books from the library.  Let's relearn the dying art of cooking with whole, healthy foods.  Lets take that extra time to learn what we need to keep our families healthy. 

So next time my three children drag chairs across the kitchen to watch me make supper, maybe I shouldn't groan inwardly and bemoan my sudden lack of ability to move or open drawers.  Maybe I should resist the urge to shoo them out of the kitchen.  Instead, I can hand them a spoon and tell them what I am doing so one day they will be able to make a meal from scratch, and provide healthy food for their families.

This post has been linked to The Prairie Homestead Barn Hop,. Frugally Sustainable: Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Hearth and Soul Blog Hop and Real Food Forager: Fat Tuesdays.

Stock photos provided by www.dreamstime.com.