Many a low fat recipe begins with coating a pan with nonstick cooking spray. This dispenses with the need for butter or oil, thus keeping added fat to a minimum. Not everyone is a fan of cooking spray, however. What exactly is cooking spray, why is it not truly a fat-free way to cook, and why should we never use it on some kinds of cookware? Cooking Spray Photo © 2011 Fiona Haynes, licensed to About.com
Conventional wisdom tells us that the reason so many Americans are overweight, especially those with lower incomes, is their reliance on cheap junk food. After all, a candy bar or a bag of chips is cheaper than a bunch of carrots or a pound of apples.
Nonsense, says food writer Mark Bittman. He argues in the New York Times that feeding a family of four at McDonald's typically costs between $23 and $28, whereas a home-cooked dinner of roast chicken, vegetables, mashed potatoes, plus a basic salad and milk costs around $14. Even the calorie argument doesn't wash. Fast food is a good source of cheap calories, it is argued, but so too is home-cooked food.
Then there's the argument that lower-income families have limited access to supermarkets. Bittman counters by saying that most still have access to vehicles and if they are able to drive to McDonald's, they are surely able to drive to the nearest Safeway.
We eat junk food because cooking is perceived by many as work. After a long day it's too much hassle, especially if you're essentially a short-order cook catering to every family member's preferences. Then there's the more insidious argument that hyper-processed food contains just the right combination of ingredients of salt, fat and sugar that makes it virtually addictive. If cooking is work, junk food is both quick and pleasurable.
So what's the answer? Bittman says a cultural shift is needed. We need to be educated about the joy of cooking. The hard thing for many, though, will still be fitting one more thing in to already busy schedules.
What do you think?
One way to limit the amount of saturated fats in our diet is liquid oils in our kitchen rather than solid fats such as butter, margarine or lard use. This is generally good advice; But did you know that all edible oils contain some saturated fat and oil has more saturated fat than butter? Photo © Fiona Haynes, about.com, Inc. licensed