Food InjusticeI enjoy cooking. I enjoy eating. I enjoy cooking with others. I enjoy eating with others. I enjoy eating what others have cooked for me.

Cooking is something I enjoy, but it’s time-consuming. And with limited time, I often find myself torn between the desire for a nutritious meal and the convenience of grabbing something quick. It's frustrating to know that something as essential as food has to be sacrificed to make time for other things.

I'm constantly juggling factors like budget, availability, and flavor. It's a game of compromises, and I sometimes wonder if I'm doing the best I can. The amount of food in New York is absurd. There is definitely enough to feed everyone fruits and veg, grain, protein, all the good stuff. But does everyone have the time to cook? The skills? No. When did the ability to cook become a privilege?

Who is responsible for creating a world where so many are forced to default to ultra-processed and fast food?

We rely a food industrial complex that is extremely opaque and consistently lets us down, so I fight for and insist on the time to prepare healthy, homecooked food. There was a time when I’d rather starve than choke down something from McDonald’s. That I even had to do constant cost-benefit analyses for something keeping me alive is infuriating.