My Proposal

Genius Hour Proposal

Problem

In the United States a shift has been more towards eating out than cooking at home which has been leading to more health problems. Much of the time people are eating out due to how convenient it is, there is not hassle of preparing the food or the clean up afterwards. Eating out can lead to food choices that don’t include the necessary nutritional value one needs.

            “Only 15 percent of adults say they learned to cook in classes or in school,” said Julia Wolfson author of a School of Public Health study. There has been a decline in Home Economic classes in schools and because of this there is more of a demand in teaching teens how to cook or even sew. There has been a loss of learning in how to cook or perform other skills essential for daily life.

Proposed Solution

I propose to make a cookbook and give access to it for others to use free. Cookbooks can be pricey if one buys them brand new, but cookbooks can also be found at thrift stores at a reasonable price. My cookbook will include the steps written out to follow, so they are easy to understand. Sometimes when directions are not always clear so it may be discouraging or frustrating, but my cookbook will work to rid these problems. My cookbook can provide to be a valuable resource for those who are trying to cut out eating out often, improve their cooking skills or learn to cook, and act as a guide to preparing more home cooked meals.

Justification

According to a cross-sectional analysis in Nutrition Journal by Lindsey P. Smith, Shu Wen Ng, and Barry M. Popkin, published by BioMed Central, “US consumers increasingly consume foods from away-from-home sources including fast food, cafeterias, and restaurants.” This study discusses the trends in the United States and how people have come to rely on fast food or eating out because of its convenience. In eating out though, one does not always see what exactly is being put in their food. Eating at home and preparing one’s own food may be more work but allows one to have much more control over their food consumption. Cooking at home allows one to make a more conscious effort in their consumption of food.

Cooking at home also allows for it to be more family oriented. For me cooking with my family has been a way to bring us all together and better connect. Usually we have different chores such as one will set the table, one will get drinks ready, and we all try to assist in getting the meal prepared by chopping vegetables, opening cans, and other jobs. Cooking is a great way to bring the family together and allow each member of the family to contribute.

I believe in trying to do something it’s important to have the resources available and my cookbook will be available to all who want access to prepare food they want to try. With a decline in Home Economic classes being provided in schools there is a decline in the knowledge of cooking or preparing food safely. Not knowing how to do something makes a task seem too scary or daunting. My cookbook would be a good resource for all because the recipes that will be contained in it can be prepared by anyone along with detailed instructions to guide that person.

Although my cookbook would be an excellent source for those who want to eat out less and cook at home more, I have my own motivation behind wanting to write this cookbook. This cookbook will give me a great opportunity to relate more to my great-grandmothers and learn more about what it takes in preparing these foods I love to eat. Many of the recipes passed down from my family are in old, worn cookbooks or on aged paper carefully written out, so in making this cookbook I will have easy access and find them for when I want to make a certain beloved dish. Importantly though, this cookbook will let me gather these recipes so I can pass them on to my future children and my other siblings. I don’t want these recipes I have enjoyed all my life growing up to be lost or replaced with recipes that just were not as good. My cookbook, which I will name, Treasury of My Family Recipes, will be a keepsake I can have forever to hand down to the future generations of my family.