Remember, back in the 80’s, when America went “fat-free”? Research at the time was suggesting that the saturated fats in our diet were a major cause of heart disease, so suddenly all sources of dietary fat became Public Enemy No. 1. The packaging of yogurts and cookies and thousands of other processed foods proudly shouted out their claims of “reduced fat”, “low fat” and “fat-free”. They didn’t mention the sugar that was being added, in enormous quantities, to make up for the “mouth-feel” that was lost along with the fat. Instead, the messaging was kept simple: Fat is bad. Cut it out. Nothing else matters.

So Americans (and our children) continued to consume too many high-calorie, processed foods and rates of obesity and Type 2 Diabetes skyrocketed. Today, we are figuring out that the large amounts of sugar added to packaged foods, like cereals and sodas, are just as bad (if not worse) for our children’s health than the fats they replaced. And unfortunately, the processed food giants are now adding both, along with added sodium, in excessive quantities. This is all part of the “Big Food” industry’s master plan to make brand-loyal consumers out of our unsuspecting offspring by the time they can see over the countertop.

It seems to me that the solution lies in a good counter-marketing campaign. The parents of America may not have 1.7 Billion dollars to spend every year marketing the good stuff to our children, but our unfettered access to the consumer would make any advertising executive drool. We see our kids every day - sometimes for hours on end - and for the most part, they listen to us… even if they don’t always agree! So, what should our jingle be? Enjoy real food, in moderation. 

When it comes to feeding the next generation, we have a unique opportunity to teach them a love of the wonderful flavors that only whole, natural foods can offer. I’m not advocating a diet of lettuce leaves and raw broccoli. Our home-cooked meals can be deliciously flavored with fresh herbs, fragrant spices and, YES, small, reasonable amounts of salt, sugar and even butter! Certainly, the average American child’s diet tends to be too high in fat, sugar and salt. (If you've managed to eliminate salt and sugar completely from your child's diet, that's commendable.) But in the great majority of cases, the excess of fat, sugar and salt that's plaguing our Nation comes from processed food. If the parents of America try to compete with those foods by offering our children home-cooked meals that are flavorless and unappealing… guess what, folks? We're going to lose.

So, let’s collectively defy our history of extremism by finding a solution that lies somewhere in the middle. It's okay to use small, reasonable amounts of the stuff we’ve historically feared, like (natural) fats, a pinch of sugar and a dash of salt, together with plenty of fresh herbs, lemon juice and other healthful spices to make our home-cooked meals delicious. In this way, we can really teach our children how to eat well and stay healthy. And in America today, this rare and precious ability – knowing how to enjoy good things in moderation - could end up saving their lives.

Just cook.

I have spent the last ten years exploring a simple solution to a complex problem. I’m not sure I have the perfect solution either, but I’ve come to believe that perfection is overrated. The problem is the food environment in which our three children are growing up. We live in the United States, but this kind of food environment and the problems associated with it are spreading steadily to other parts of the world, even as I write.  The solution I’ll propose may disappoint you at first. It’s surprisingly low-tech and I can’t even call it mine. It belongs to my mother and my big sister, who taught me everything I know about simple home cooking. And, in some ways, it belongs to every parent who ever passed on a family recipe to the next generation. Little did they know, that food-splattered index card might hold some of the secrets of their family’s long-term health and happiness.

Am I being too dramatic? Maybe. But the truth is that eating in America is becoming a question of survival. Not survival as it was in the old days, when people were fighting for every scrap and every calorie (sadly, many people in the world still are) but in the US, the epidemic of childhood obesity threatens to leave our children with a shorter life expectancy than their parents. Survival, for them, now means having the sheer strength to go against the unrelenting messages being delivered to their 5 senses via fast foods tailored to addict and ubiquitous food marketing, designed to make them consume.

There’s no doubt that this problem is complex, but the solution doesn’t have to be. Here it is: Just cook. If you have a kitchen, no matter how small, and if you have access to a source of fresh foods, you’re in business. We have come to see cooking as a series of dangerous and complicated stunts – acts that should not be attempted at home and ones that should only be performed by trained professionals. We have come to see cooking as a luxury activity that demands significant time, money and preparation.

My grandmother never learned how to drive a car and certainly never attended culinary school, but she could roll out a dozen perfectly round rotis (Indian flat breads) with her eyes closed.  She learned to cook because the kitchen was her workshop, her artist’s studio and her temple all rolled into one. Kitchens were where food came from in those days and in her kitchen, she was the Queen.  My grandmother had no professional training but, like many grandmothers, her meals are talked about and celebrated generations later. They represent all of the love and care she passed on to her children and to theirs. And because of that love, they were inherently healthy.

When we cook for our families, we have control over the ingredients we’re using and ultimately, over the nutrients that are supporting our family’s health. Even if we’re just beginning on this journey back to the kitchen (back to a healthy, gratifying and celebratory way of eating) we are on our way to a sustainable solution. Just cook, especially if you have kids. Just. Cook.