I never saw it that way. Thanks, North Carolina State University researchers.

From Emily Jashinsky of Campus Reform:

Study claims family dinners are elitist, put unnecessary pressure on mothers

A study published by professors at North Carolina State University claims that pressure put on mothers to cook nightly meals is elitist and stressful for working class families.

Published in late August, “The Joy of Cooking” reports the authors’ findings after interviewing 150 mothers from diverse ethnic backgrounds over the past year-and-a-half. The professors also spent time shadowing 12 working-class and poor families.

The study concludes that the resurgent emphasis on home cooking is “a tasty illusion, one that is moralistic, and rather elitist.”

According to the study, the heightened pressure from influential figures like Michael Pollan and Michelle Obama for families to sit down to healthier, home cooked meals on a nightly basis has become a source of stress for American mothers. The study refers to the message that “good mothers” cook for their families as “unrealistic.”