Radical Homemaking: Why Both Men and Women Should Get Back In Kitchen

[marmar]

via AlterNet:



YES! Magazine / By Shannon Hayes

Radical Homemaking: Why Both Men and Women Should Get Back In Kitchen
A glance into America’s past suggests that homemaking could play a big part in addressing the ecological, economic and social crises of our present time.

February 7, 2010 |


Long before we could pronounce Betty Friedan’s last name, Americans from my generation felt her impact. Many of us born in the mid-1970s learned from our parents and our teachers that women no longer needed to stay home, that there were professional opportunities awaiting us. In my own school experience, homemaking, like farming, gained a reputation as a vocation for the scholastically impaired. Those of us with academic promise learned that we could do whatever we put our minds to, whether it was conquering the world or saving the world. I was personally interested in saving the world. That path eventually led me to conclude that homemaking would play a major role toward achieving that goal.

My own farming background led me to pursue advanced degrees in the field of sustainable agriculture, with a powerful interest in the local food movement. By the time my Ph.D. was conferred, I was married, and I was in a state of confusion. The more I understood about the importance of small farms and the nutritional, ecological, and social value of local food, the more I questioned the value of a 9-to-5 job. If my husband and I both worked and had children, it appeared that our family’s ecological impact would be considerable. We’d require two cars, professional wardrobes, convenience foods to make up for lost time in the kitchen … and we’d have to buy, rather than produce, harvest, and store, our own food.

The economics didn’t work out, either. When we crunched the numbers, our gross incomes from two careers would have been high, but the cost of living was also considerable, especially when daycare was figured into the calculation. Abandoning the job market, we re-joined my parents on our small grassfed livestock farm and became homemakers. For almost ten years now, we’ve been able to eat locally and organically, support local businesses, avoid big box stores, save money, and support a family of four on less than $45,000 per year.

Wondering if my family was a freaky aberration to the conventional American culture, I decided to post a notice on my webpage, looking to connect with other ecologically minded homemakers. My fingers trembled on the keyboard as I typed the notice. What, exactly, would be the repercussions for taking a pro-homemaker stand and seeking out others? Was encouraging a Radical Homemaking movement going to unravel all the social advancements that have been made in the last 40-plus years? Women, after all, have been the homemakers since the beginning of time. Or so I thought. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/reproductivejustice/145575/radical_homemaking%3A_why_both_men_and_women_should_get_back_in_kitchen

[zeemike]

1. YES....that is the answer.

For the young people....back to the land.

Years ago when I grew up i was tended to with parents from the old school....my mother kept us well fed by canning and raising a vegetable garden and making every thing from scratch even bread...she baked twice a week.

That is how most people lived in the 19th century...and there was a natural division of labor in the family and everyone in that family had chores and responsibility from the time that they were small.
the family was a single unit living off the land and not dependant on the monetary system for there survive.

So if you are young and want a family and can, do it, and raise some healthy and intelligent children, as many as you can, for the next generation.

[Frustratedlady]

2. When I heard the cost of childcare for my g-grandkids, I about choked.

Of course, I am a bit out of touch on salaries, but a person would have to work a lot of hours just to pay the sitter. Add to that the cost of food, travel and clothing to work outside the home, whoa! No wonder it's so hard for families to save.

My mother was much the same as yours and we never wanted for anything...particularly, love.

[zeemike]

3. Yes and we ate pretty good for poor people

And that love and food is what I remember....when she was baking I would be there to lick the boll or snatch a piece of warm bread...
And the young families do not do well and it is not there fault...what else can you do when both must work just to provide cash to live....it is a tough situation for them.

[boobooday]

4. Child care is outrageous

And if you don't make a lot of money, it is terrifying trying to find an affordable, safe, nurturing child care provider for your child.

This makes the lives of young families SO much more stressful.

[Yurovsky]

7. The most difficult part is that most of us...

have lost (or never learned) the skills that our grandparents had. Two adults working full time and taking care of kids after hours doesn't leave a lot of time for baking, gardening, woodworking, or sewing.

Universal health care, a mandated living wage, and the option for low-cost subsidized child care (especially for single parents) would go along way to reversing the post WW2 trends that have gotten us where we are today. Young families don't have much of a chance without someone fighting for them in DC and in the State Houses.

[TNDemo]

5. Thanks for posting that.

I have felt this way for a long time but haven't seen an article about it. While the kids were growing I worked at home (paid work), which really was the hardest thing I could have chosen. Occasionally I would take them to Mothers Day Out and it was like a vacation to work in peace. We really needed the money at the time. I worked outside the home for a few years but now that the kids are grown it has ended up with me not working for the last year and my husband and I are really pretty happy with this arrangement. It makes our lives so much easier in so many ways and my income seemed to just push us into a higher tax bracket and get us turned down for college grants for the kids and ultimately we decided it wasn't worth it. I am free to make the right choices as far as food is concerned, instead of flinging something on the table or driving through somewhere out of lack of time. I have to say I still feel guilty about not bringing in an income now that I have no kids at home and I seem to have to explain myself a lot. I also feel like I should be putting more away for retirement, but once again, unless it is a huge salary (which I am not going to get), it just seems to get eaten up in taxes and work expenses, and we both stay exhausted. My husband really likes leaving the stress of work and not having to worry about the house, the meals or the various family fires that needed to be put out that day. I guess we are the Cleavers now. I should go find my pearls.

[niyad]

6. kick