Okay. Call me stubborn. Old-fashioned. Caught in a rut. But excuse me.
Aren’t certain rights guaranteed to us as human beings? Aren’t we free to decide how much is enough and what is worth keeping?
When did the way we choose to cook vegetables become something we have no say over?
It’s bad enough we become used to something and suddenly it’s gone, with no warning. Or we expect to find a certain size or flavor of something on the shelf and the next time we enter the store, it’s not there. Or it’s new and “improved”, or the size is different which just means there are now 4 potato chips in the economy size instead of the prior 24.
But the price is the same.
(And you can’t get the package open without a flame thrower and wrench.)
Now, there’s more. Now, you can’t go to the store and buy a package of frozen vegetables and choose for yourself if you want to boil, steam, or microwave them…and you can’t cook just a part of the package. Because some bored food technician decided that we must be sold a one-size package that must be microwaved all at once.
Excuse me?
Seriously. What’s up with this? A relative told me he thinks It’s because the millenials don’t know how to cook—or don’t want to. I hate to believe that. I know some very capable young cooks. And I know for many cooks, the idea of buying frozen vegetables instead of fresh is a crime. Yet research has suggested the nutritional value is about the same (depending upon how it’s prepared.)
But that’s not the point. The point is … are you freaking kidding me? Is this 1984 x 2000 and I will be told what I must do—and cannot do—in my kitchen?
It’s a small thing I suppose. Yet it just feels more and more like there’s one big conglomerate out there and they are in control of what we eat, what we watch, and how we think. We’ve all accepted we buy hot dogs and buns in different quantities. We ignore the “best sold by” dates and consume things in the back of our refrigerators that appear to be edible. We mutter incoherently as the grocery bagger puts the eggs below the watermelon and hands us the bag. We bravely decide we’re going to eat eggs/bacon/lard regardless of what the latest government survey says will happen to us if we do.
But I can’t find a regular package of frozen spinach???
If my mother were alive, she would be at the manager’s counter with that look on her face. And he’d be regretting he didn’t take the day off. She always insisted on double-bagging. And she often located the butcher, who might be hiding in the back, so she could get the cut of meat she was looking for. After all, she was buying food for her family, and it mattered.
Maybe no one cooks anymore…except me and most of my friends. Maybe we’re the exception. But I know this: we probably eat healthier meals than those who don’t. And I’ll bet we enjoy them more. And by golly, we should have the freedom to make them any way we choose.
And if this really is a “generational” thing, then consider this: baby boomers spend the most across all product categories. That includes groceries. Maybe it’s time we caused a ruckus.
Clean-up on aisle 7?
You ain’t seen nothing yet.
“The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook.”
Julia Child
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