I stumbled across an article on the CNN website last night about the movement to push Americans back into the kitchen and the lack of knowledge that 20-30 year olds have in regards to cooking. I thought it was something that paralleled the kind of things that I have been proposing on this blog, namely taking responsibility for one's eating and cooking, and having the capacity to create quality meals, while at the same time saving money and saving.


Here is a brief passage from the article:

Food 101: Seeking clues in the kitchen

By Stephanie Chen, CNN

Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- The curious faces scrutinize the classroom kitchen, where pots and pans dangle from the ceiling and sharp knives glisten on the counter next to heaps of spinach and ripe green peppers. The one-night, hands-on course, called Food 101, is meant for them. They are the cooking inept, who can't properly to chop an onion, let alone sauté a medley of vegetables.


First-time student Jessica Clark, 33, of Atlanta, is attending the course offered by Cook's Warehouse because she is dubious of her kitchen abilities. She only knows how to prepare grilled chicken and steamed broccoli (and on some nights canned black beans and rice). Her boyfriend is sick of eating the same thing at home. She is sick of eating out.


"I usually make whatever is easy, and I guess that's not much," says Clark, dressed in an apron with her fingers still wet from fumbling through the tomato dicing activity. "I've avoided the kitchen for 33 years."


Cooking dinner? There's an app for that


From British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver to First Lady Michelle Obama, a food revolution is brewing in America, a push to return to the bygone days when healthy home-cooked meals were much more frequent. Despite the efforts to get Americans back into the kitchen, there still exists a group of adults in their 20s and 30s -- like Clark -- who are clueless in the kitchen.


Ironically, these 20- and 30-somethings may have stretched their palates while traveling the world and even spend hours watching the cooking shows and "Top Chef," but they are defeated when they enter the kitchen. They don't own cooking utensils in their Tupperware-filled cabinets. They rely on microwaves, restaurants and takeout menus to feed their empty stomachs. Simply put, they cannot cook.


"Lots of people think, read and talk about food, but they don't know how to do anything," said Jennifer Berg, head of the Food Studies program at New York University. "There is an incredible disconnect to actually knowing how to do something."


you can read the rest here...