Mouth-watering. Succulent. Moreish. The only place I’ve heard these words recently is in a fast-food ad. You know the ones where a perfect looking burger sits in front of you on the screen, with crispy lettuce and bright red, perfectly sliced tomato (plot twist, they’re not real!).
Definitely haven’t seen those words used for anything designed for a weeknight meal though!
Weeknight meals are usually made in a hurry, on a budget and with food that we know won’t cause a battle. Because, let’s face it, there’s no point cooking food that won’t get eaten.
But how often do your kids exclaim with enthusiasm how succulent their chicken nuggets are, or how often does your mouth water in anticipation of the amazing meal you’ve just cooked?
The truth is, eating is an art. One that our current day and age has made us believe is not a worthwhile undertaking.
Just a few decades ago, grabbing a bag of frozen vegetables to heat up in the microwave was unheard of. And eating anywhere but the table as a family was non-existent. Before that, preparing a meal was one of the most important tasks of the day. It was made with fresh food and it was FULL of taste.
In just two or three generations we have lost the art of eating.
If you walk into any supermarket right now, the majority of the food will be in some sort of packaging. And in my lifetime it’s always been that way. To be able to put it in a package and keep it from going old, stale or mouldy, it has to be preserved in some way, and usually this is with a form of chemical preservative (these are ingredients listed on the back of the package in the 200s). If you took away items from the shelves that included a preservative of some description, there wouldn’t be much left.
But it wasn’t always like this. Up until the first World War, buying processed food in a package was a rarity. During this time when much needed sustenance was provided to the soldiers on the front line, the companies making the food decided it would also be great to market it to the citizens back home.
The packaged food was pretty bland though, and didn’t look hugely appetizing, so the quest commenced to make it make palatable; there was potential for a lot of money to be made from these newly-designed packaged foods! Salt was added back in along with sugar and the taste started coming back. As more preservatives and antioxidants were created and discovered, colour and the ability to stay fresh made even T.V. dinners look appealing.
And then of course there was the excitement of the new, and the promise of more time available to enjoy life when you don’t have to spend so much time cooking. Who could say no?
We began to eat more in front of the T.V. and less at the table, and spend more and more of our weekly shopping budget on packaged food. Needless to say companies like Watties, Kraft and Nestle were loving this ‘progress’. By the 1970’s, convenience foods had well and truly found their place in the market.
No longer were we cooking meals with fresh ingredients that created a symphony of flavour when brought together and satisfied ALL our tastebuds at once, and neither were we engaging in the most important activity a family can do: eating together around the table.
The one-dimensional taste of the salt and sugar was disguised by the T.V. screen in front of us where we could zone out and just watch.
As the flavour ‘sweet spot’ was discovered, where the perfect mix of salt and sugar was added to make us crave more, the consumers voice crying out for something new became louder, and more and more products reach our shelves, until we reached the point where there was more packaged and processed food in our trolleys than not.
Profits became the central focus, and because of society’s unending desire for ease and convenience, we as consumers handed over our money without a second thought. Nourishing our bodies the way they were designed took a back seat, and we took great pleasure in indulging in all the great ‘tastes’ on offer to us.
But did that ease and convenience really give us as much progress as we thought? I would argue no. We might be able to fit more into our days now, but our bodies are suffering, our families are suffering, and our wallets are too. We’ve had the fun, we’ve tried the new things, but it’s not working. So now, it’s time to get back to basics:
Eating is a social activity. It is the central focus in all cultures, building relationships within communities, family and friends. There has even been research from the Oxford University that showed people who ate together were more happy and satisfied with their lives. Children learn through modelling, experimenting, and repetition. By not sitting together we are denying them the ability to explore their food and really learn texture and taste.
We’re also missing out on those really important end of day conversations where we can help our kids debrief their day, work through problems together and answer those burning curiousities children are so good at expressing!
So much of what we eat now comes in a packet and/or is processed in some way. But nothing can compare to the taste that comes with ingredients in their truest form. Cooking from scratch might seem overwhelming and scary to start with, but with practise you’ll see a whole new world of options open up. And if those little mouths don’t find it easy to switch to ‘real’ food on the first go, don’t give up, our children are so much more capable than we give them credit for. With great role modelling and clear expectations, they can do anything!
A good business person sees an opportunity in the market and takes advantage of it. So since the time chalk and other adulterants were added to bread to make a bit more profit when times were hard, money has come before our health. Be very clear on who you give your money to and what they do with it. I’ve slowly been making changes for the past couple of years. One step at a time you can as well. You’ll end up saving money too!
Cooking food and enjoying a simple home-cooked meal doesn’t need to be stress or cumbersome. To find out how you can experience more joy at family meal times, make sure you sign up to my weekly email. I can’t wait to see you there!