I'm laughing at a snarky blog. It's called Trainpigs, and it's essentially snapshots of people eating on trains. The characters in these photos are shoveling Chinese food from Styrofoam trays into their mouths, clutching fast-food sandwiches by a handful of paper wrappings. Sitting, standing, even walking. Nothing strange about this - I rode the four train last night beside a woman digging into a plastic carton of salad. What's surprising is that the blog is calling out something that has become so commonplace, so generally accepted, as unacceptable: eating take-out food on the go.
I'm not one to call anyone a pig, but marvel at the cultural phenomenon that is trainpigs. Making mealtimes out of no time, at the desk or on the train, has become the working world's solution to the all-too lackluster task of filling up on food. From their looks, none of the unsuspecting muses in these photos seem to be savoring their food terribly much, disengaged from the crowd around them. Maybe a more fitting blog for today's workaholic lifestyle might be called foodsloths, and poke fun at those who actually take time out of their day to enjoy a meal. Or, who spend the time to prepare their food, rather than depend on the convenience of restaurants.
What this blog then wouldn't understand and what we as a culture are learning to forget, is that by placing a small amount of time and effort on our daily bread, we are actually earning much more in return. It may be just monetary (compare the price of a bagel from a store to one that you could purchase ahead and toast at home), and it may be just health-related (now, see how much butter the counter person slathers on it compared to what would be plenty for you doing so yourself). Then, you might also find that you're saving yourself from trips to take out the trash, because the disposable take-out containers you're not using while cooking more food won't be clogging the bin. You might also begin to wonder why the apples in your grocery aisle came from Washington State, when you live in a place populated with orchards in the Northeast. You will most surely get better and better at cooking, too, and constantly discover new ways to satisfy.
In total, by preparing your own food, you'll become more mindful of it. And for one of the few physical necessities of every day -- eating -- a better connection with that food is nothing to sneeze at. Plus, it can just be fun. Getting back into the kitchen on a daily basis can be as enjoyable a hobby as it is practical. Over the two years I spent not eating out from any restaurant, I would find many more reasons for why this extreme sort of affliction I had for home cooking was beneficial to myself, the environment, and the community. I began writing about some of them on my blog, Not Eating Out in New York, interspersed throughout recipes that calculated the cost, health factor and green factor of the ingredients. And I described more of them in my memoir, The Art of Eating In: How I Learned to Stop Spending and Love the Stove, which hits shelves this week. Perhaps one of the hands-down, can't-argue, best benefits of eating in is that I can afford to support small farms' local, seasonal, humanely raised or organic foods all the time because I was buying their ingredients raw, and that's a heck of a lot cheaper than filling up on these superior foods in restos all the time.
Of course, I can't wait to see what other folks might find from eating in, too. Now you can along with thousands of others in a fun challenge called The Week of Eating In, a project by HuffPost Green and HuffPost Eyes&Ears. It's simple to sign up, and throughout the week (February 22-28) and this one just before, we'll be adding tips and updates, guest blogs from famous foodies as well as cook-a-phobes alike, some slideshows of the worst kitchens and the best apps for eating in. And we encourage the throwing of potlucks, possibly the best crutch for when the going might be rough. So I invite you to join us in this week-long experiment, and share how it goes.
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Starting on Monday February 22nd, HuffPost Green and HuffPost Eyes&Ears will be doing The Week of Eating In. For seven days, we'll invite you to eat in, aka COOK all of your own food for a week.
Ellen Kanner: Meatless Monday: Cooking Is Child's Play
I wasn't a voracious eater as a kid, but I was a voracious reader. I read books and stories, but also read street signs, cereal...
Jerusha Klemperer: Get Cooking With The Art of Eating In
Cathy Erway made a radical decision: in New York, this capital of restaurants, in this city of buying and spending, she was going to stay in and cook.
Lorna Sass: Vicarious Pleasure: The Art of Eating In
The book is about the coming of age of a cook, but it's also about passion, curiosity, and the hard work and time it takes to get really good at doing something.
i think i actually save time by cooking -- the "fast" in fast food is a misnomer. you have to make time to go and fetch it and haul it back. anything you can cook in 30 minutes is quicker than a trip to a burger place unless you live directly over it. and i can live off a pot of food for a few days. you have to go back every day to grab a "fresh" burger.
i think "train pigs" and their counterparts -- the suv driver with a pastry in one hand and a cell phone in the other and a cup of coffee waiting for an open spot -- get confused by the false sense of instant gratification. you can't just blink and it all falls in your lap. it takes time to procure. and then you have to make that time up to justify eating garbage by eating in ways that would make our neanderthal
After 2 years of rarely eating out, I find now that if I do go to a restaurant, I am really irritated by the wait for the table, the wait for the server to take our orders, the wait for the food, the wait for the bill, etc. There is always some sort of mistake, like missing silverware, missing napkins, wrong side order, orders cold, etc. Plus, I find the food in the restaurant is not even nearly as good as I thought I remembered it to be. And I am blown away by the cost, each and every time.
When we started at Weight Watchers in January of 2008 we learned to read labels and find fresh organic food. Meal planning, cooking and eating is fun again.
It is about attention and intention. If one doesn’t make time to eat, how do they make time for anything else?
I stopped shopping at Whole Paycheck, and started going to small ethnic produce shops that litter Chicago. Great stuff! And, I literally leave the store with 2 bags of stuff with change from a 20.
Eating out can be part of a healthy and satisfying routine, too, but save it for emergencies, special occasions and travel. Supporting locally owned restaurants featuring local/regional cuisines is also a great thing and provides rewards other than satisfying one's hunger.
The absolute worst thing people can do regarding food is routinely frequenting fast food joints (many of which are national chains) and keeping their homes stocked with empty-calorie high-salt high-fat preservative-loaded junk foods and refined-sugar drinks and sweets.
We are lucky to live in a region where many people, both men and women, are accomplished home cooks and where people know and value flavor. It's relatively easy to find an abundance of fresh quality ingredients and produce around here, and at reasonable prices.
Adding salt at the end doesn't compensate. I hear you tho...
My mother and I prepared three meals a day. When I turned 10 I could prepare and cook a meal for all of the cowboys and hired hands.
I am single and for the longest time I could only cook for 6, so I ate out quite a bit to ease the grief that I had when sitting at the table alone. Yes, a painful divorce. I finally conquered the tears and haven't really eaten out since then. I'm not counting special occasions or when someone else pays for it.
I cook full meals for myself for breakfast and dinner. I don't eat processed food, junk food or meat. I do eat fish. Quit chicken recently. I grow vegetables (planted potatoes yesterday) and there is nothing in this world that is better than a homegrown tomato! (YouTube Guy Clark singing about them)
It's nice, even my children's friends think so.
Ciao for now