Yay for the Gen X guys - we cook! Although, personally, watching food TV is right up there with watching paint dry. On the other hand, Gen X folk don't seem to know as much about GMO foods - and we should - but our educated peers keep abreast of information about healthy food.
Gen
Xers are a lot more conscious about their food than their parents were —
especially the men, who are cooking and shopping more and watching food
TV as much as women.
For nearly 25 years, researchers from the University of Michigan have
followed the lifestyle habits of a group of 3,000 Generation X adults —
men and women born between the years 1961 and 1981. The latest report
[PDF] based on the ongoing study focused on Gen Xers and food, and
found that this generation is a lot more conscious about food —
especially the men — than their predecessors were.
The data collected as part of the Longitudinal Study of American
Youth found that Generation X adults spend more time shopping and
cooking food, watching cooking shows on TV and talking to their friends
about food or cooking.
“Generation X adults view life as a smorgasbord and have a little bit
of everything in terms of food,” says study author Jon Miller, the
director of the International Center for the Advancement of Scientific
Literacy in the Institute for Social Research at the University of
Michigan.
Gen X men are more involved in all aspects of meal preparation — from
grocery shopping to cooking — than their fathers were. These men spend
more time in the kitchen than their dads did, cooking about eight meals a
week and buying groceries more than one a week.
“Men have fun in the kitchen,” says Miller. “I was surprised by how
often they shop and cook. If men just happened to wander into the
kitchen and make something, that makes more sense, but when you buy into
the whole process, then you’re into it. Clearly they are into it.”
Gen X men also watch cooking shows and read magazine articles on
cooking just as much as women do. “Males overall get something different
out of watching cooking shows than women because I don’t think men have
as many cooking skills acquired young at their parents arm. My guess is
young men are still learning basic skills. They are still learning how
to boil water,” says Miller.
The shifting roles in the kitchen is also likely a sign of modern
household dynamics. In many Gen X couples, both partners have full-time
jobs outside the home and share household responsibilities. “In previous
generations, there was often a disparity, and the husband’s job brought
in more money or was more time consuming. That’s not the case anymore,”
says Miller. “Now there is much more parity between genders and in many
cases, the woman makes more. That means there is a reallocation of time
and duties for these people.”
Dr. John Ardizzone, the director of assessment services program at
the Family Institute at Northwestern University who is unaffiliated with
the study, says he also sees more professional men taking on domestic
duties than he did in the past. “The men in this age group definitely do
more work in the home, and more cooking for sure,” says Dr. Ardizzone.
“They also help out more with their kids than you would stereotypically
expect of men. They are putting their kids to bed and giving them baths.
They share in chores and responsibilities.”
Again, their motivation has a lot to do with the fact that their
partners and spouses are working full-time too, says Dr. Ardizzone, and
the household tasks need to be divided. “These women are well-educated,
are working more or also have more interests outside the house that take
up time,” says Dr. Ardizzone.
“It’s ‘have to’ and ‘want to,’” says Ellen Galinsky, the
president and co-founder of the Families and Work Institute in New York.
The Institute released a national study
of the changing workforce in 2008. “These men can have to do more
cooking and want to at the same time. We find that women are changing
too. Younger women are just as ambitious as men. Men are becoming more
family involved and women are becoming more work and career involved.”
The Gen X report revealed a few surprises: for instance, only 9% of
the surveyed adults said they preferred to buy organic foods when
available. About half said they buy organic “some of the time,” but the
other half almost never purchase organic. ”There is this perception that
Generation X people are passionate organic buyers and it is not
necessarily true,” says Miller. “I think they also take into account
price, availability and other factors and don’t feel the need to always
buy organic. Those who are really devoted are a much smaller group than
we would’ve guessed.”
Here are some other key eating habit findings in the study:
- On average, Generation Xers cook meals for guests about once a month
and talk to friends about food or cooking about six times a month.
- Married women cook the most and prepare about 12 meals a week.
Single women cook about 10 meals a week and both married and single men
cook about eight meals weekly.
- Generation Xers have a low level of genetically modified food
knowledge. “Generally speaking they know more about genes and biology
than their parents did, but genetically modified food is not something
they think about often,” says Miller. “Those who are scientifically
literate still monitor food news about food safety.”
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