Home Economics | Make the Bread, Buy the Butter

I was really excited when I heard about this book by Jennifer Reese - Make the Bread, Buy the Butter. As an economist and a foodie, what more could I ask for in a book? However, as an economist, it's glaring that she doesn't include the price of anything other than the ingredients to the homemade recipes. These aren't even externality costs, these are just plain ol' costs she didn't include!

Assuming that it's the same price to go out to get all the recipe ingredients and the store-bought equivalent, she totally neglects that there are additional costs for preparing the recipes - chicken coops, chicken feed, pots, pans, mixers, blenders, meat grinders, gas and electricity. She was unemployed at the time, so I won't even touch opportunity costs. In her introduction, she kind of touched on economies of scale, but failed to mention that not every company sacrifices quality during mass production. Despite these shortcomings, I liked her effort.

Personally, my biggest issue with this whole debate is when I see people whine and moan about the industrial agriculture and processed foods. No one is shoving a TV dinner down your throat every night. You're a big boy, you decide what you eat for dinner. And if you have an endless amount of time to make all your food from scratch - do it! However, I don't have multiple days to prepare one meal, so I buy some things packaged, most things fresh and combine them for an enjoyable meal. 

That being said, there are a couple items where I disagree with Mrs. Reese. Potstickers - buy it! I love anything Ajinomoto makes (including their MSG). And the only frozen foods I buy (outside of cocktail shrimp) are Ajinomoto products. I've tried to make gyoza (Japanese potstickers) before with store bought wrappers and it was killer. I almost put my back out. Save yourself the heartbreak and get your self a big bag of Ajinonomoto gyoza. Their shumai is tasty too. Yum. 

And, fried chicken - make it! I don't know where she found her recipe, but if fried chicken had a serious hassle factor, we would have starved as children. KFC is cheap, but it tastes awful. Skip the brining step and make it at home. Or go to Popeye's.