Say It's Not So Mrs. Fields...

Monday, August 18, 2008

The Queen of Cookies, Mrs. Fields has filed Chapter 11. Recently I watched a news report that said the Mrs. Fields Cookie Company was filing bankruptcy because people were no longer shopping in malls, filling that occasional sugar rush with a Mrs. Fields' chocolate chip cookie. I was sad to hear about Mrs. Fields', the same way I was sad to hear about the Miami Bake Shoppe at Northland Mall, in Southfield, Michigan closing some forty plus years ago. They had the best sugar cookies on earth, or so I thought. I know I certainly don’t shop the malls like I use to, not only because of tough economic times, but also because the malls do not have the variety they had of yesteryear. Maybe it’s me but the clothes hanging on the racks are wrinkled, and the styles are just shabby; and I don’t mean shabby chic either. I now shop on the Internet or by mail order since there really is more variety and the cost is most affordable.

It does not surprise me that Mrs. Fields went under with rising cost for flour, sugar and the like. I can only predict that other small food franchises will follow suit. People are starting to take notice of their waste lines and although fast food chains may not be feeling the pinch, there is no doubt in my mind they are feeling a bit of a sting. When you begin to get coupons from Starbucks to come back later in the day and get a Frapp or Latte for two bucks, you know something's up. I don’t know about you but I have steadily watched food prices creep higher and higher and observed folks in the grocery purchasing more hamburger, pasta and prepared foods from the deli. What does this mean? When folks cook for themselves they cook “cheap” and when they ask someone else to cook for them, their willing to pay more for what they conceive to be better-tastier, dare I say healthier food.

Recently my daughter’s best friend visited and informed me that the people in her city, Atlanta just don’t cook. Everyone eats out or purchases prepared foods. I then saw a news story on a company in Atlanta no less, called Fresh and Fit. The company prepares homemade food for busy people who do not have time to cook. This is a wonderful idea, but the cost starts at $18.00 per person and I don’t know about you, but I rarely spend $18.00 per person for a homemade meal.

So what are we to do about our need for healthy, affordable food?

Well, I don’t have any life shattering ideas or suggestions. What I know to do is the same thing our forefathers did, get back in the kitchen and cook.

No, it’s not rock science, it basic cooking 101. I remember all those women who cooked for a living. You know the one’s that you saw catching the bus in urban areas over fifty years ago. Today they're gallantly called personal chefs, but years past they were good old fashioned cooks. Nonetheless, times have changed and few can afford to have a personal cook/chef come to their home and prepare meals.

I suppose we could start a community cooking club and feed everyone in the cul-da-sac for a modest contribution, or start home-based bakeries that provide families in communities with fresh, healthy, affordable baked goods, or perhaps we could just go back to diner days, when little homespun restaurants served tasty, not so healthy foods fashioning the culture living in the neighborhood.

Look, all I know is something has to give. At some point people are going to realize that it is not someone else who must figure out how to feed their family reasonably priced food. I am a little old fashioned cook in North Carolina trying to provide people with options. I have been on this earth over a half century and there is nothing better than getting back to the basics and starting from scratch. If you know of something better please email me and I will gleefully try your recommendation. Until then I will keep writing my little cookbooks for those good old fashioned cooks, who want pure and simple down home food. Look, for some of us a salad is still lettuce, tomato, a bit of grated carrot, thinly sliced red onion, croutons and salad dressing, e.g.vinegar and oil. Simple, right?