Sunday, July 11, 2010

Did Industrial Food Really Liberate Women?


I've been chewing over the whole gender, food, and industrialization business lately and have determined that while industrialized food, and convenience machines (dishwashers, vacuums, etc.), helped liberate us women from kitchens and allowed us to enter the workforce (while raising families at the same time!) it has been to the misfortune to many. While having meaningful, engaging, and intellectually stimulating work beyond the realms of laundry and meal preparation is extremely important, we have been mislead into thinking that the home could remain place of respite without someone there keeping the fires burning. In fact, women today are finding alternative careers that allow them to do both. Or, men are even getting involved.

As Shannon Hayes in her recent book "Radical Homemakers," it's most often women that tend to set their careers aside for family, but not always. Today we are seeing men and women alike reclaiming their domesticity from a consumer culture. Because really, how are we supposed to eat seasonally without canning, freezing, and planning ahead? How are we to eat more healthfully without adding more time to our food budgets? Food for thought.

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