Love of Cooking..

With time, Canadians are eating less meals at home and opting for prepackaged products that promise taste, nutrition and convenience. But the claims do not present the entire truth as also discussed in the article, "Frozen food is simple, yes, but is it good for you?" by Carly Weeks. Weeks argues that while companies marketing their products as nutritious alternatives to cooking  is working for them, consumers are at a loss here as the consumption of pre-packaged foods rise and so does their fat and sodium intake. It is also important to note, that the agencies responsible for designing ad campaigns for many million dollar corporations have years of education, training and experience with them in presenting objects in the best possible light. Knowledge of consumer behaviour, trend analysis and human psychology are just some aspects of marketing that are taken into consideration when designing advertisements for a product. We tend to underestimate the effect advertisements have on our behaviour, however, businesses track records of improved sales after a specific advertisement is aired show drastic improvements in sales. Meanwhile, busier working schedules and time-poverty leads to less time left for cooking. Cooking is not a skill set everyone has anymore. In my first year at Ryerson into the nutrition program, I remember discussing time-poverty and how it is affecting our everyday food choices in FNP 100 seminar. Before coming to Ryerson, I was accutomed to home-cooked meals and did not understand when someone talked about "missing" home cooked meals. For me, if anyone was going out for dinner meant there was a special occassion or a celebration of some kind and I would look forward to the monthly anniversaries, birthdays or traditional events to go out for dinner. However, moving away from home and working part-time while studying has changed how I view eating out completely and made me fall in love with cooking all over again!