Is Home Cooking Cheaper?

I posted a comment to this story and pasted it below.  Seems to me that as in so many other circumstances in the modern world, the focus is entirely on the monetary value - and a screwed up perspective of the monetary value in general at that.  Is there no realization that there are many different values?  and Monetary is but one?

Is Cooking Really Cheaper Than Fast Food?

—By Tom Philpott

| Tue Oct. 4, 2011 3:00 AM PDT

Joe Gray/Flickr

You can walk into any McDonald's in America and buy a bounty of ready-to-eat calories for just a few bucks.  

But can you cook much better food for yourself for even cheaper? That's the message of Slow Food USA's ongoing $5 Challenge, and of a recent column by New York Times recipe wizard/food politics columnist Mark Bittman. Bittman's piece links to a handy infographicshowing that the typical burgers-and-fries dinner for a family of four at McDonald's costs about $28, while a home-cooked chicken-and-potatoes meal for four would run you just $14.

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Peter Jalkotzy 0 minutes ago

Does it not depend on what 'value' you place on the activity?  For the person that dislikes and therefore does not value the act of cooking or the time taken to do it, then paying someone else to do it for you is fine, and probably a relief.  But if you truly enjoy the act of cooking, then paying someone else to do it for you is only neglecting yourself the pleasure of the activity.  Personally, I love to cook.  So while I thoroughly enjoy shelling out big bucks for a haute cuisine affair - something I won't ever master - the time spent planning, shopping, and creating a fine meal at home is most worth more than any fast food.  The 'cheaper' might refer to monetary value - but life experiences are about much more than the monetary value they represent.