In plain sight

 Within me lies a great desire to allow people to take back their lives. Since the end of the Second World War, there has been a war of a different kind and we as individuals, families, and society all together are losing. The OP4 whispered their way into the kitchens of women like Margaret Anderson, June Cleaver, Donna Reed, and those like them. They used soothing words of praise and comfort for weary wives and moms who worked harder than anyone acknowledged, at least for another 30 to 40 years. 

There was an A&P Market in Forestville, Connecticut that we used to shop at around 1970-ish. Not too many aisles, and hardwood floors, and my goodness, at any moment, I was always expecting to see Mr. Whipple guarding the Charmin display. Poor man. He took his responsibility so seriously. He must be turning in his grave every time that stupid bear commercial airs now. The dumbed-down vernacular that it is.

The reason that there were not so many middle aisles in the stores back then is because boxed meals were so much less in abundance. Fresh meats and vegetables were the foundation of food. Those middle aisles contained other staples mostly; flour, sugar, coffee, cornmeal, etc.

In the post-World War 1950s, companies that fed the war machine canned and packaged foods suddenly did not have the customer base that had just come so easy to them. Without thinking fast and coming up with a solution, the great industrial machines that were pumping out cans and boxes of nearly ready-to-eat foods would stop and the factories would die. But, how does one compete with a World War? 

Photo by Janayara Machado on Unsplash

Cleverly and cunningly focus shifted to the largest army of all, the wives and moms across not only America but the world. Suddenly these CEOs and members of the board of directors were alarmingly concerned about the housewife. She carried us through the war and it was time she got some relief.  The attack, uh ahem! The "relief" - came from every direction. Better Homes and Gardens magazine featured an ad from Campbell's Soup Company for Tuna and Waffles. This is the power of advertising. How could anyone eat homemade food every day and suddenly think mixing a can of cream of mushroom soup, tuna, and waffles together is a meal? But, it really happened.

https://www.midcenturymenu.com/recipe/tuna-n-waffles/

 We were on a fast track to disaster. Dumbed-down food infiltrated our kitchens and the sheer novelty slowly anesthetizes the home chefs previously cooking up recipes handed down through generations. Then a great warrior stepped into view in July of 1962 and during a 10-year run, showed the home cook that nothing was out of reach. In this genre, which she invented Julia Child was a revolutionary and the leader of the resistance to stop the bleeding of kitchen prowess across the world.

The pioneer Julia forged a trail that could not be broken for women because, despite the sexist stereotyping that housewives were saddled with, in a cruel and ignorant twist, women were also ridiculed if they thought they could hang with the fine dining professional chefs of the world. She demolished this myth with a sword that only Julia could wield. 

Like everything in creation, all good things can be twisted into something not-so-good. It is what happened in later decades. All the PBS chefs who showed us how to cook fine dining dishes allowed any of us the chance to step out into an exciting new frontier. This led to the 1990s instant gratification mentality to supercharge cooking television shows. Emeril was an absolute rock star on nightly TV. He brought passion to the screen and really conveyed to the viewer that food is not just sustenance. The whole experience is and can be extraordinary.

In the first decade or so of the Food Network, a great deal of training happened. By the time we got to 2010, you could clearly see, especially if you watched any Next Food Network Star seasons,  that the focus of this industry shifted from teaching and sharing skills to entertainment. Nothing against one of my early favorites, Alton Brown. Good Eats was hugely entertaining and made me extremely teachable, but it is like water torture for me to sit through one episode of Cutthroat Kitchen. I don't fault him, a job is a job. Like the pseudo-Jimmy Doohan once said contemplating losing his job, in his Mr. Scott Scottish accent, "Yeah, I'll have to make credit card commercials with my WIFE!" <sigh> I digress.

This is not the real assault though. This was the diversion. The real assault came in between the episodes in the commercial breaks. Giant armies of processed food companies goose-stepped their regiments into the capital square of our kitchens. They smashed the memories of our ancestors, moms, grandmoms, aunts, and yes fathers, grandfathers, and brothers too. Cookbooks grew more dust on them or were replaced with gimmicky ones with the occasional new classic, must-have copy (Yes those still exist).

As the months and years passed, the shows became more about eating food than making it. This elevated the people who do cook into superheroes which inevitably makes everyone else feel they can never obtain the skill. In Kat Flinn's book, Kitchen Counter Cooking School, she speaks with a woman in the grocery store who has a grocery cart full of processed foods. A conversation ensues and in that conversation, it is revealed that a dish containing pasta, parmesan cheese, and olive oil, in one of the boxes in her cart contained 27 ingredients (most of them chemicals) and cost six times more per serving! Don't get me started about the health impact of that boxed food!  Something is wrong.

We are nearing 3 generations of a non-cooking society. So ironic when there is so much cooking media out there. Oh, yes, there are exceptions, but collectively we are in dire straits and it shows in our health and in our wallets. To some degree, it has let a percentage of restaurants off the quality hook and so they serve substandard food without being called out on it. It affects everything.

The opposing force sits in wait, not hiding, but in plain sight unified for the ruination of health, taste, and skill all for profit and because of profit, power. What they are doing to food is kept in secret board rooms because if we knew, we would run the other way. 

I have a friend who stayed in his workshop one winter in Florida to save money. With a Super Walmart next door he figured he could toaster oven, microwave meals, and when he did not feel like cooking, buy prepared foods from the counter in the Walmart. After a couple of months of eating food like this he noticed if he cut himself, his wounds never seemed to heal. He felt tired all of the time. To quote him, "I don't know what kind of satanic extraction process they use to remove all of the nutrients from their food which would otherwise naturally have some health benefits to it, but I know it's not good."

My sons work for a national sandwich franchise, which means they often find themselves eating the food there on their busy days. My 18-year-old, usually health conscience son points out that when he does, he feels awful, that he keeps crashing after eating it. Something has got to give.

How do we do it? This is now a mess 70-plus years in the making, longer than I have lived. The only hope we have is you. Yes, you. This is my focus, to show as many people that they can do it and can keep doing it. Beautiful, delicious, and creative food is possible for everyone out there, each according to their gifts. If you cook, don't give up. If you have not really learned to cook, find someone who knows how to, family, friends, or even a TV or YouTube personality to whom you relate and do something. Most importantly, cook with your heart, by which I mean, make what you want to eat. 

Don't worry either if mistakes are made either. They are the robust learning moments in which you will gain the most. Like sourdough bread, the more adversity it endures the more excellent and unique the flavors become. Let that be you. You will not be sorry.