I am a cook and a nutritionist, and I care what people eat. So I had to bite my tongue when my son dumped a stack of 10 frozen pizzas into the shopping cart last week. I cook all the time, and good stuff, but he’s 15 years old, 6 feet tall and the size of a straw (not the jumbo ones).
No doubt what we eat is important, but maybe not so much as how. Statistics consistently show that kids who eat at the table are higher achievers, stay off of drugs and are better communicators.
But getting dinner on the table is tough. Fortunately there are lots of entrepreneurs, farmers and cooks helping us do just that. Meal delivery services such as Order Up, and Postmates deliver food ready to eat. Others, such as Blue Apron and MEEL, deliver ingredients ready to cook, yet others such as Green Bean Delivery and our own Local Collaborative, deliver groceries.
What they have in common is that more and more are focusing on local. Marti Emch of MEEL delivers local ingredients ready to be assembled into dinner; Alan Powell of Nashville Grown is delivering food from the farmers to chefs; and Kimberly Lexow and Jess Legge of SIFTED are cooking up farm fresh meals for companies that want to nurture friendship and happiness for their employees at lunch. Farmers are revving up for their CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture), which provide local foods for simple, tasty meals.
I remember a commercial some years ago, where a mom was putting a frozen something or other in the oven, with a voice-over that said “Giving you time for the things that really matter,” cut to the family on the couch watching TV. The message: cooking is a waste of time, but watching TV is quality time with the kids. We know now that spending time around the table is one of the most gratifying things friends, or families, or even strangers can do.
Which is why Sam and I will be enjoying our frozen pizza at the table (me with a local brew).