A Different Kind of Endangered Species

I admit, I've really been harping on the theme of food with this blog. After all, our agricultural system accounts for an astounding portion of the environmental degradation we see around the world. It's a good place to start if we're at all going to change the status quo of "produce it cheap and pile it high." However, I recently realized that my generation simply does not cook. They feel like they don't need to when they still have their parents to do it for them. Not to mention the prodigious number of restaurants, grocery stores and microwavable options. Sure, they may bake some brownies occasionally with friends, but most of us young adults don't know our way around a wooden spoon. What I want to know is:

What ever happened to grandma's cookbook?

When did that go out the window? As I mentioned briefly in a previous post, there's something to be said about culinary tradition. It keeps us grounded in methods suited to more local resources and techniques, as well as keeps us actually involved in our food. Yet somewhere along the line, we stopped passing down dietary aptitude and let ourselves be swept away in a tide of processed fats and sugars. This is something that needs to change. Or else the family cookbook may as well be added to the endangered species list.

Upon having these sorts of revelations, I immediately contacted my grandmothers in New Zealand about the prospect of compiling a family cookbook. My mother has a personal cookbook created over the years, but it's in a sorry state, suffering for old age and a bit of flood damage to boot. And so I figured, what better way to preserve the ideals of cooking than by working with your own matriarchs to collect a unique history of family gastronomy? My idea is to separate it into generational chapters, keeping some sense of lineage intact. I'm hoping to add a section relating my own dietary sensibilities in attempts to continue the evolution.

Basically, not only does it sound like a fun project, but the product will be of immense social, cultural and personal worth. And if you use some sort of fancy online publishing service like Shutterfly, you could even make multiple copies to distribute at holidays. No more worrying about gifts for relatives you don't know terribly well. That's my dream at least.

So there you are. I would strongly encourage you to discover your culinary roots and pay homage to more traditional practices. I really don't think there's anything more rewarding than sitting down to a delicious meal that you prepared on your own or with the help of people you love. It's something worth preserving.