“We are the species that cooks. No other species cooks, and when we learned to cook is when we became truly human.” -Michael Pollan, "Cooked"
Maybe that’s a rather dramatic perspective on something most people my age barely know how to do. But if you think about it, Pollan is right. Animals don’t cook their food. Cooking is one of the things that sets us apart from animals.
Somewhere along the line we decided cooking wasn’t that important. We figured out ways to eat “cooked” food without cooking it ourselves. In the ‘50s fast food became popularized, and people got used to a hot meal at a moment’s notice. Now the food industry is a huge, corporate mess of low-quality mass production.
The problem with our food being controlled by corporations is simple. The dudes in the suits first priority is profits—not quality, and definitely not nutrition.
Everything from chain restaurants like Canes and Chipotle to frozen pizza and egg rolls are controlled by the dudes in the suits. If that sounds like something you eat on a daily basis, you are probably a college student, and you are not alone.
Eating preserved, processed and fast food is tempting for all the right reasons, especially in today’s world. Who has time to cook anyway? An hour and ten minute cooking time? Forget it.
If I’m hungry and have class in 30 minutes, do you think I’m going home to prepare a meal? I’m grabbing a Chick-fil-A spicy combo, no doubt. As far as convenience goes, there’s no comparison.
But all that outsourced food is not good for you. It’s mostly trans fat and sugar, two things that don’t much belong in a natural diet, especially in high quantities. That’s why the United States has an obesity problem. Oh, and don’t forget cardiovascular diseases, high cholesterol, heart attacks…
I’m not blowing any minds by saying processed food is bad for you. You can tell that just by looking at the ingredients listed on packaging. Do you cook with high fructose corn syrup? Artificial colors and flavors? How about butylated hydroxyanisole?
The fact is obtaining our own ingredients and cooking our own food is way healthier. And it’s the only way we can really know what’s in the food we eat.
Our best chance at health lies in buying local, organic produce and meat. We need to take the time to find out where our ingredients come from. Farm-raised livestock is crucial. Animals raised on a mass scale aren’t natural. They survive on unnatural diets are kept in more than unsanitary conditions. Fresh, local vegetables are good, too. Farmer’s markets (unfortunately rare today) are a great place to start.
Then, and this applies specifically to my generation, learn to cook. Really, it’s not hard. If you can follow instructions, you can cook something. The more you cook, the better you’ll get, and the tastier your meals will be. Your body will reward you with better moods, more energy, and a longer life.
If you're interested in this stuff and like Netflix, watch "Food Inc." or "Cooked."
