I had a tea break this afternoon with my colleague visiting from Amsterdam, who is originally from New York City and was here for a work offsite this week. We follow each other on Instagram, and so she oftentimes sees my Instagram story posts about food prep and cooking and said she even shares some of the videos with her husband. “Look! Yvonne roasts and even grinds her own spice mixes! Even your mom doesn’t do that!” She tells him.

She asked me how much planning I typically do for food whenever I am cooking. I told her that I spend so much time thinking about food and what I am going to make next that my own husband sometimes asks me if that’s all I ever think about. I told her that I usually am thinking at least a week in advance, so if I want something spur of the moment, it’s a bit hard unless I know I already have certain items stocked in my pantry or freezer. She said it’s more difficult for her to do that in Amsterdam given the types of markets around her, so if she needs certain ingredients, she needs to trek out of her way to grab them; they won’t always be at her local markets. I get why people don’t cook more than they do on average in cities like New York; there’s no real incentive to unless you really enjoy it, and not everyone is willing to go out of their way to buy spices or egg noodles the way I am. I actually enjoy that process. I just think it would be better if more people were cognizant of what’s in their food and what goes into making it. We should all be aware of the things we’re putting in our bodies.