Stirring The Pot With The Women's Food Movement

(cross-post from La Marguerite blog)

One casual comment made by a girlfriend during a recent dinner at my house, got me thinking, deep, about women, and food, and politics. "You mean, you made the crust? From scratch?" My friend could not believe I had spent the time, and thought I was "too much". No big deal, I assured her, it had only taken me a few minutes to mix in the flour, salt and butter, and to roll the dough. That's when I realized how far we have strayed from our womanly ways with food.

Somewhere in the midst of first wave feminism, we, women made a bargain with the devil. Tired of being kept in the kitchen, we welcomed with open arms, promises from the food industry to make life more convenient for us. Put away your apron, and your pots and pans, we were told, and get out instead. Take your family to McDonald's, for a complete dinner, or if you are courageous enough, go to the stores for some half baked alternatives. Pre-cut salads, frozen dinners, bottled dressing, whole roasted chicken, canned soups, cake mixes, potato flakes, . . . Open the package, mix it up and you are all set. That felt like progress, and the perfect solution for a hurried evening after a whole day at the office.

Of course there were compromises to be made, such as paying more for our food, and jeopardizing our health and that of our family. Products loaded with too much salt, too much sugar, too much fat, and too many empty calories. Paragraph long labels with ingredients more fit for a science lab than our stomach. Foods purified from their natural vitamins and nutrition. Further compounding the problem, manufacturers conspired to confuse us with misleading claims that we were only too happy to believe. I know firsthand. I spent a good part of my early advertising career trying to convince moms of the wholesomeness of granola bars . . . what a spin that was!

The truth has been catching up with us, however, in the form of record highs in obesity and associated illnesses such as diabetes, stroke, heart attack, and kidney failure. The personal and national costs are astronomical, and demand an overhaul of our entire food system, such as proposed by pioneers of the natural food movement. First was California food's priestess, Alice Waters, then The Omnivore's Dilemma's Michael Pollan, and now Slow Food's Carlo Petrini. Each time, the green, intellectual elite has responded with ardor. Some of that enthusiasm has trickled down to the mainstream, as evidenced by the spread of organics in supermarkets. Deep down, though, not much has changed.

Inspired from the success of Obama's movement, I would like to suggest a different strategy, one that does not come from a few tenors, but that recognizes women as the beholders of the nurturing instinct, and the ones still in charge of most of the food decisions. Let's call it The Women's Food Movement, an effort at organizing the community of women all over, to help them regain confidence in their innate ability to nourish, using simple recipes and affordable, high quality, natural ingredients. Shifting the power away from manufacturers and retailers, back into the hands of women. No fancy words needed. Instead, a narrative anchored in their every day food activities and concerns, e.g. shopping for groceries, deciding on what to make for dinner, exchanging recipes, looking for deals and clipping coupons, worrying about feeding their family healthy food, having limited time for cooking, making ends meet . . .

Most importantly, The Women's Food Movement is about trusting women to hold the answers, collectively, and simply providing them with an organizing community and some tools to turn that knowledge into constructive action. This approach requires a deeper understanding of women's food psychology, than currently displayed in existing solutions. For a beginning of food conversations with women, you may follow the Twitter stream here.

Comments

[Marguerite Manteau-Rao - Huffpost Blogger]

Being a number person, I need to share these other statistics, this time from USDA study, 'Who has time to cook?' http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/ERR40/err40.pdf. On page 10, graphs confirm again the overwhelming role (still) played by women in the planning and cooking of at home meals. Depending on whether women work or not, ratio of women to men cooking ranges from 2:1 to 4:1.

My point is, let us work with those who are the primary food dealer in the house first. This, by the way does not preclude inviting the men to join as well.

Let's face it, all the people's food initiatives so far have failed to make the lasting and deep changes that are needed. Numbers are good as they help keep a broad, and more accurate perspective on reality. The Huffington Post audience, being on the whole more progressive and educated is (unfortunately) not representative of the mainstream.

Last, my intention is not to confine women in the kitchen and to revert to patriarchal ways. If you knew me, you would know that I have a strong feminist streak! :) No, rather, I propose to inspire women, who are in the kitchen anyway, to change their ways and not fall prey to the destructive ploys from the food industry. As pointed out by several of you, it is not a matter of spending more time in the kitchen. Instead it is being smarter in our ways with food.

[nadinesellers]

Salivating my way out of tasty sustenance, i dry my lips to comment on the attitude surrounding this most essential subject. We all have this common goal, need for food and nutritional satisfaction. How wonderful the food chain!

Being so intimately acquainted with the biology and process of nourishment, i am anxious to read about a return to hands on, hands in, food preparation. A sensuous progress in a sane direction. How comforting it is to note the current change in home and market.

[Marguerite Manteau-Rao - Huffpost Blogger]

Great op-ed article in New York Times today, paying tribute to the simple cook:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/29/opinion/29hazan.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=marcella,%20cook&st=cse

A unisex twist on this post . . .

[WASanford]

I couldn't be more with you on this. After reading Barbara kingsolver's book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," the first thing I did was buy a bread machine. For once I know what's in the bread I eat. I also began buying my produce at a farmer's market and of course, i began cooking from scratch. Oh, before I forget, I'm a guy.

[loril]

I'll check this out. The preparation and selection of the best quality food for the best overall bargain has become one of may main areas of focus now that I am a parent. Yeah...I am a woman. I wouldn't want to see any woman feeling "Forced back into the kitchen." But I think all of us...women and men...should start to play very close attention to the stuff we are putting into our bodies (and the bodies of our kids). To do otherwise is to court a wide variety of serious health problems and a shortened life span/lower quality of life.

We completely changed the way we ate about 6 years ago when I was still working full time. At first, it was time consuming because I had to research and experiment with new recipes. After the first year, I had a new repertoire and it got a lot easier/quicker. The physical results were overwhelming...lost 12 pounds, had a completely trouble free pregnancy and the highest energy level in years. My husband also experienced profound improvements to his health. We are raising our daughter on well prepared "real food" from day one. She eats very well and has an adventurous palate for a preschooler.

[zaneblue]

I strongly agree. We skipped a generation; I was lucky to grow up with my grandmother who knew how to cook in that way. I don't think we need to bake our own bread, or for that matter make piecrust dough, but knowing how to make a soup from a chicken carcass, cooking with fresh vegetables, knowing how to grow and cook with fresh herbs--these are useful skills.

Old cookbooks have some of this wisdom, seeing the value of animal fat and using every part of meat purchases. It used to be that each calorie was considered valuable, and every art was used to make vegetables as tasty as possible. Nothing was wasted.

[Marguerite Manteau-Rao - Huffpost Blogger]

Sorry, 'hayness' if I offended you! The reality however is that women still do the majority of the grocery shopping, as indicated by these statistics from Progressive Grocer on 'Who Shops?': women alone 69%, men alone 19%, women and men together 11%.

Being a practical mind, and a focused marketer, it seems to me that the easiest way to make changes, is to go after the primary shopper, i.e. women. Men are welcome to come along! :)

[hayness]

Wouldn't it be nice if this were the PEOPLE's FOOD MOVEMENT? Or the HUMAN FOOD Movement? One thing at least we ought to get out of the feminist movement is some frigging equality in the kitchen. After 10 years of Food Network TV, it's not uncool for men to cook anymore. Share the work and the rewards.

[letstakeawalk]

I'd like to point out that it's never been uncool for men to cook. Throughout history, great men have spent time in the kitchen, and posted the recipes for posterity. Especially with the rise of modern cuisine and fine dining, the role of head chef in the world's greatest kitchens has often been filled by men.

That said, food is a non-sexual experience that can be enjoyed by everyone. I do agree with Ms. Manteau-Rao's thesis that individuals should be more involved in the preparation of their own diet. I'm a young single male, and my last roomate was a chef with a culinary degree. He cooks in the best restaurants in a very competitive market. He taught me much about choosing meat and produce, and about things like mise-en-place, and how to appreciate the small details of what you're cooking. Now I'm much less likely to buy prepackaged foods; I'd rather start with fresh. The time factor is the biggest surprise. Those "heat and eat" meals average around a 30 min cooking time, when you figure thawing and cooking time - when I start from scratch I can usually prepare the dinner much faster!

Good food can be quick - more often than quick food is good.

[foodies anonymous]

I agree with letstakeawalk. There are many single guys and men in general who are really great cooks. I'm not sure what the ratio of men to women head chefs are, but I'll wager that there are more men than women in that role.

But I also want to point out that there are many people (men and women) who never succumbed to the peer pressure of fast, cheap, bad food that you refer to in your article as the convenience of food marketed. I've always cooked my own food and shopped as economically and healthy as possible. I think there are a lot of people in NYC who never got the podcast that people outside of the big city still do things the homemade ways. They certainly shouldn't group anyone in what they consider to be the entire world of women being subjected to the convenience factor marketing with the real world.

I also think both men and women need to be marketed for what should be called the PEOPLE's Food Movement. If men are not the main shoppers, we should let them know that they can be, that it is fun and easy, and that it is healthier, greener and not a woman's chore.

[Schaz]

I have to agree with hayness. As worthwhile as the goal may be, the focus on making it women's responsibility detracts from the message of healthier eating. "Who shops" statistics aren't important - you can target shoppers and food preparers and eaters without narrowing the definition to gender.

To be blunt, your meta message t really comes across as "get back in the kitchen...where you belong". I'm sure that isn't your intent, and you could avoid that whole unnecessary distraction with a "food movement" that doesn't seem like it jumped from the pages of a 50s housewife's magazine.

[REAL cook 1977]

I agree that it should be the People's Food Movement. In addition, marketing to women will only leave men out. As much as the statistics show that women are the main shoppers, if we don't market to both men and women, the men won't be jumping on the bandwagon if they see advertisements that tell only women about these movements. What we want to do is let men know that there is a slow/green/etc. movement going on and that it would be in EVERYONE'S interest to get out there and start buying smarter, healthier and better and to cook better.

There are also those of us (men and women) who never succumbed to the peer pressure and have always been smart shoppers, cooks, etc. I am a little offended that you say that WE women have been pulled into buying fast, unhealthy food when not all of us fell for that shtick. You and your socialite friends may have fallen for that busy-girls need things made easy routine, but not all of us women did. There is a world outside of NYC, in case you didn't get that podcast update.

[meryn]

Being a guy (and admittedly not that much into cooking), I like this to be the *Women's* Food Movement. It would be nice for a change if a pragmatic movement would have women in front, in this case quite literary. :) I personally can't imagine men to be as enthusiastic about this subject (cooking, grocery shopping, politics, personal health and children's health combined) as women. Aside from this, I think women have their own interaction style when in an all women group, more trusting perhaps, so this could be another reason to define it as a women's movement. They'll be stronger without men in between. "Membership" should be open to men, but they have to accept that this specific area (not meaning the kitchen) is women's earned territory. I'm sure the women will take men's opinion's into account, as they do in any marriage. This will be a women's thing.

Hayness, as for your equality concerns, I don't think this Marguerite wants to hold men away from cooking. Maybe the women could even discuss ways to get their men cook a little more for them. I'm sure women and/or your wife appreciate your cooking skills.

Marguerite, though I already know I will be kind of excluded from this group, I still wish you all the best with this. I think it's gonna be great. Providing some relief for my sorrow, I remember that I never fancied those girl parties that much anyway. ;)