Why Americans Need to Eat at Home More Often

I really wish that people would take more responsibility for their own food.  I wish people would buy their own food and cook their own food increasingly.  I don’t wish restaurants didn’t exist.  I wish that people didn’t eat 50 percent of their meals outside of the home.  I wish they ate 10 percent of their meals outside of the home.  

That would be the most positive trend that could possibly happen to food in the United States. 

When I say “eating at home” I don’t mean going to the supermarket, buying some pre-prepared food and eating it at home. I don’t mean buying microwaved food and reheating it at home and I don’t mean calling for pizza or take-out and eating it at home, I mean cooking. 

If people cooked 50 percent of their meals, as opposed to what’s probably 20 percent of their meals, it would have a huge impact on both their health and on the environment, and it would be almost entirely positive.  That’s really my most fervent wish. 

In Their Own Words is recorded in Big Think’s studio.

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