Harris Interactive Reveals Cooking Trends in America

A recent poll conducted by Harris Interactive revealed some interesting facts about American home cooks.

• 79% of adults say they enjoy cooking
• 30% say they love it 
• 49% say they enjoy it when they have the time. 
• 14% say they do not enjoy cooking 
• 7% do not cook

The Harris Poll consisted of 2,503 adults surveyed online between May 10-17, 2010 by Harris Interactive.

The poll also revealed which age groups can most often be found in the kitchen:

• 33% of Matures (those 65 and older) love cooking
• 28% of Baby Boomers (those 46-64)

Men were more likely to say they love cooking (32% versus 28% of women).

Cooking Frequency
As for how often Americans are cooking, the poll revealed:

• 41% say they prepare meals at home five or more times a week
• 29% do so three to four times a week
• 19% of U.S. adults prepare meals at home one to two times a week
• 11% rarely or never prepare meals at home.

There is a generational difference in frequency of preparing meals at home:

• 52% of Matures cook at home five or more times per week
• 33% of Echo Boomers (those aged 18-33) cook at home five or more times per week
• 22% say they often cook only for themselves
• 76% often cook for their family
• 22% often cook for friends.

How people cook
Among those who prepare meals at home:

• 81% say they cook what they are familiar with very often
• 75% say they very often or occasionally will use pre-prepped and/or frozen ingredients