Three meals a day, if you include work or TV
Americans are devoting less time to meals than they did a decade ago and waiting longer before eating them, according to two USDA analysts. The old idea of three meals a day applies to 21st century America only if you include food consumption that is secondary to something else, such as working or watching TV and movies.
Don’t want to slice your own tomato? Ask the produce butcher.
In Manhattan, Whole Foods' latest store offers customers a “produce butcher” to cut up vegetables in real time — and for a price. According to the store’s sign, the produce butcher will “julienne (long, thin matchsticks), mince, dice, chop, and slice” produce for a dollar a pound, says Modern Farmer.
Many farmers’ market visitors are there just to socialize
Some farmers are seeing a drop in farmers' market sales, as customers steer toward prepared foods and away from fresh vegetables and fruit, says The Washington Post. Many customers coming to markets today are younger and don’t cook much. They consider the market more of an event than a source for the week’s groceries.
Substituting fossil fuels for labor in the kitchen
Americans spend an average of 35 minutes a day preparing meals and cleaning up after them, according to the Labor Department. "That's compared to about 50 minutes just a few decades ago," says Harvest Public Media in the fifth segment of its "Feasting on Fuel" series.