Dammit, Michelle, get in the kitchen
May 31st, 2009 by Cliff Bostock in Food & LifeA New York Times staffer, Amanda Hesser, thinks it’s dandy that Michelle Obama planted an organic garden but she wants Michelle to get more savvy about cooking:
When The Washington Post asked Mrs. Obama for her favorite recipe, she replied, “You know, cooking isn’t one of my huge things.” And last month, when a boy who was visiting the White House asked her if she liked to cook, she replied: “I don’t miss cooking. I’m just fine with other people cooking.” Though delivered lightheartedly, and by someone with a very busy schedule, the message was unmistakable: everyday cooking is a chore.
Both times Mrs. Obama missed a great opportunity to get people talking about a crucial yet neglected aspect of the food discussion: cooking. Because terrific local ingredients aren’t much use if people are cooking less and less; cooking is to gardening what parenting is to childbirth. Research by the NPD Group showed that Americans ate takeout meals an average of 125 times a year in 2008, up from 72 a year in 1983. And a recent U.C.L.A. study of 32 working families found that the subjects viewed cooking from scratch as a kind of rarefied hobby.
May 31st, 2009 at 1:25 pm
This is like someone complaining that Mother Teresa just didn’t do quite enough. Michelle Obama has drawn enormous attention to the way we eat and where our food comes from, and I have a hunch she’s not done.
Does Amanda Hesser have young children? Cooking food CAN be a chore. There are some nights, after very long days, when it’s nice to cut corners. I salute Michelle Obama for not pretending like she’s Wonder Woman.
June 1st, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Agree with Mincemeat! Obamafoodorama.com points out how misguided Hesser’s editorial is–and that Michelle’s comments are out of context: http://tinyurl.com/m9zokn
And TheFoodSection.com points out how sexist it all is: http://bit.ly/DkQ1l