500-word draft:

Should cooking be more prominent in our society to provide us with more happy memories with food? In Michael Pollan’s article “Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch” he describes a setting of growing up and watching Julia Child create a new atmosphere of cooking for so many people. Since this show people have gone from cooking home-made meals in the kitchen to ordering fast food and sitting on the couch watching the Food Network. Society has gradually changed and shaped throughout the many years, and the majority of our favorite meals are surrounded by happy memories with our family or friends. Food is such a big part of our culture and everyday life. In Michael Pollan’s article he continuously discusses how he grew up in this atmosphere, and how he has watched cooking decrease in America. As well as how the definition of cooking has transformed through the decades to nothingness. Cooking has genuinely made us into the people we are today and how we live our day to day lives, with its disappearance in society, are we losing our traditions and ways of life? 

Growing up I always remember watching my parents cook in the kitchen and make delicious meals for my sister and I. Now we are all so busy for sit-down dinners that we fend for ourselves when it comes to dinner time. The rare occasion we get home-cooked meals is when my mom has the time and assistance from us to make amazing meals for special occasions. Michael Pollan discusses this perspective of how society now has grown to dread having to put in so much effort in making a meal that we just order out. In Pollan’s article he states, “Consider for a moment the proposition that as a human activity, cooking is far more important – to our happiness and to our health – than its current role in our lives, not to mention its depiction on TV, might lead you to believe” (Pollan 16). This quote describes how cooking is so much more than an activity we are too lazy to commit to on a day-to-day basis. It allows us to take the time and consider the preparation we take to enjoy our favorite meals. Not only that but as well as give us an opportunity to make something that forms memories and recreate recipes from our past family members. Happiness is the main emotion I think of when I think of my favorite meal that my mom makes, because of all the happy memories I have experienced with this meal. Cooking home-cooked meals creates an atmosphere of joy that many families experience when they sit at the table to enjoy a meal so delicious. I find myself constantly thinking about my mom’s cooking, and every time I come home from college she tries and makes me a home-cooked meal. I am more grateful for my mom’s chicken parmesan than a large cheese pizza from the center of my hometown. Except with the society, we live in, it is not worth the time and effort to slave over a kitchen stove than to have someone else do it for you. 

800-word draft:

Do you think cooking homemade meals is as prominent as it was in the 1960s? In Michael Pollan’s article “Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch ” he describes a setting of growing up and watching Julia Child as she created a new atmosphere of cooking for so many people especially women. Pollan discusses having Child as his role model and watching his mom gain courage and confidence in the kitchen. Since this show, people have gone from cooking home-made meals in the kitchen to ordering fast food and sitting on the couch watching the Food Network. Pollan describes the drastic change of watching cooking on television over the years, and how people do not cook along with the show anymore. In his article he continuously discusses how he grew up in this atmosphere, and how he has watched cooking decrease in America. As well as how the definition of cooking has transformed through the decades to nothingness. In my English Composition class we all wrote about our favorite meals, these essays relate to Pollan’s argument in his article and the importance of food in our lives. Society has gradually changed and shaped throughout the many years, and the majority of our favorite meals are surrounded by happy memories with our family or friends. Food is such a big part of our culture and everyday life. Cooking has genuinely made us into the people we are today and how we live our day to day lives, with its disappearance in society, are we losing our traditions and ways of life? 

Growing up I always remember watching my parents cook in the kitchen and make delicious meals for my sister and I. Now we are all so busy for sit-down dinners that we fend for ourselves when it comes to dinner time. The rare occasion we get home-cooked meals is when my mom has the time and assistance from us to make amazing meals for special occasions. Michael Pollan discusses this perspective of how society now has grown to dread having to put in so much effort in making a meal that we just order out. In Pollan’s article he states “Consider for a moment the proposition that as a human activity, cooking is far more important – to our happiness and to our health – than its current role in our lives, not to mention its depiction on TV, might lead you to believe” (Pollan 16). This quote describes how cooking is so much more than an activity we are too lazy to commit to on a day to day basis. It allows us to take the time and consider the preparation we take to enjoy our favorite meals. Not only that but as well as give us an opportunity to make something that forms memories and recreate recipes from our past family members. Happiness is the main emotion I feel when I think of my favorite meal that my mom makes, because of all the happy memories I have experienced with this meal. Cooking home-cooked meals creates an atmosphere of joy that many families experience when they sit at the table to enjoy a meal so delicious. I find myself constantly thinking about my mom’s cooking, and everytime I come home from college she tries and makes me a home-cooked meal. I am more grateful for my mom’s chicken parmesan than a large cheese pizza from the center of my hometown. In comparison, Angel Fendiana wrote about spicy chicken curry as her favorite meal in 2019, and the importance of this home-cooked meal her mother makes. Angel stated “It is interesting to know that a dish like spicy chicken curry could hold such values and memories that meant more than anything. Even though it is a common dish that my mom cooks, it’s also an important dish that held many recollections of what went on the family” (Fendiana). In relation to the previous quote from Pollan’s article, Fendiana helps represent how important this dish is to her family, and the memories held within this home-cooked meal. She discusses how important this dish has been in her family’s culture throughout the years and how it created a stronger bond between her family and her, especially with her mom. It supports the fact that we have memories tied with the food we enjoy. With people lacking the motivation to get up from the couch and cook it represents how all these traditions and love we make in the kitchen with friends and family are going to disappear. 

1000-word draft:

Do you think cooking homemade meals is as prominent as it was in the 1960s? In Michael Pollan’s article “Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch ” he describes a setting of growing up and watching Julia Child as she created a new atmosphere of cooking for so many people especially women. Pollan discusses having Child as his role model and watching his mom gain courage and confidence in the kitchen. Since this show, people have gone from cooking home-made meals in the kitchen to ordering fast food and sitting on the couch watching the Food Network. Pollan describes the drastic change of watching cooking on television over the years, and how people do not cook along with the show anymore. In his article he continuously discusses how he grew up in this atmosphere, and how he has watched cooking decrease in America. As well as how the definition of cooking has transformed through the decades to nothingness. In my English Composition class we all wrote about our favorite meals, these essays relate to Pollan’s argument in his article and the importance of food in our lives. Society has gradually changed and shaped throughout the many years, and the majority of our favorite meals are surrounded by happy memories with our family or friends. Food is such a big part of our culture and everyday life. Cooking has genuinely made us into the people we are today and how we live our day to day lives, with its disappearance in society, are we losing our traditions and ways of life? 

Growing up I always remember watching my parents cook in the kitchen and make delicious meals for my sister and I. Now we are all so busy for sit-down dinners that we fend for ourselves when it comes to dinner time. The rare occasion we get home-cooked meals is when my mom has the time and assistance from us to make amazing meals for special occasions. Michael Pollan discusses this perspective of how society now has grown to dread having to put in so much effort in making a meal that we just order out. In Pollan’s article he states “Consider for a moment the proposition that as a human activity, cooking is far more important – to our happiness and to our health – than its current role in our lives, not to mention its depiction on TV, might lead you to believe” (Pollan 16). This quote describes how cooking is so much more than an activity we are too lazy to commit to on a day to day basis. It allows us to take the time and consider the preparation we take to enjoy our favorite meals. Not only that but as well as give us an opportunity to make something that forms memories and recreate recipes from our past family members. Happiness is the main emotion I feel when I think of my favorite meal that my mom makes, because of all the happy memories I have experienced with this meal. Cooking home-cooked meals creates an atmosphere of joy that many families experience when they sit at the table to enjoy a meal so delicious. I find myself constantly thinking about my mom’s cooking, and everytime I come home from college she tries and makes me a home-cooked meal. I am more grateful for my mom’s chicken parmesan than a large cheese pizza from the center of my hometown. In comparison, Angel Fendiana wrote about spicy chicken curry as her favorite meal in 2019, and the importance of this home-cooked meal her mother makes. Angel stated “It is interesting to know that a dish like spicy chicken curry could hold such values and memories that meant more than anything. Even though it is a common dish that my mom cooks, it’s also an important dish that held many recollections of what went on the family” (Fendiana). In relation to the previous quote from Pollan’s article, Fendiana helps represent how important this dish is to her family, and the memories held within this home-cooked meal. She discusses how important this dish has been in her family’s culture throughout the years and how it created a stronger bond between her family and her, especially with her mom. It supports the fact that we have memories tied with the food we enjoy. With people lacking the motivation to get up from the couch and cook it represents how all these traditions and love we make in the kitchen with friends and family are going to disappear. 

When you go to a grocery store nowadays you can find your “home-cooked” meal stored in a freezer in a box for you to heat up later. Putting these meals into the perspective of being completely processed and having barely any nutritional gain is concerning. At my dining hall in college you can find pasta, fries, grilled cheese, hot dogs and hamburgers every single day no matter the time. Where have our standards for quality food gone? Pollan discusses this question by stating “proccessed foods have so thoroughly colonized the American kitchen and diet that they have redefined what passes today for cooking, not to mention food” (Pollan 7). He also discusses Harry Balzer, a veteran food-marketing researcher who stated “people call things ‘cooking’ today that would roll their grandmother in her grave” (Pollan 7). These statements help demonstrate the world we live in, and how low our capabilities and standards have reached. We have gone from recipes passed down through generations to frozen meals at Walmart. After reading Pollan’s article I told my mom I wanted more home made meals and sit down dinners. These are things we should want in our daily lives, something to hold up our traditions we have made and destroyed in the past years. ( not sure about FM essay quote yet)

Is watching food shows something we enjoy to connect back with something we miss? Pollan discusses this point throughout his essay as the change of food shows throughout the years. 

Final draft: