TLDR

As a way of understanding different cultures, passing cultures and traditions between generations, or learning about historical interactions between cultures, cooking is a crucial skill and should not be pushed to the side by food delivery services or decreasing emphasis on cooking in middle schools & high schools.

Learning how to be comfortable in the kitchen, knowing both how to follow a recipe and how to experiment with new things, provides a bridge between people and cultures. Food is a method of communication. It can provide comfort, evoke nostalgia, or signal acceptance. As Chou noted, children from different cultures would feel less embarrassed to eat their culture’s cuisine if other children had been exposed to more cultures’ foods, and did not judge their peers for eating their cultural foods.

This carries into adulthood as well. By learning about and being accepting of other cultures and their traditions, we can better support the people around us. Food is an established method of supporting others—bringing meals to sick friends, donating to a food pantry, or just bringing someone their favorite snack when they’re down—but many overlook the value of cooking as a way of learning. A family recipe teaches you how your great-grandma cooked, what she had access to. A different culture’s recipe teaches you what regional ingredients they have, or what traditions that food is used in, or what flavors are more common in other areas.