Family dinner in Pie Town, NM, 1940.

Family dinner in Pie Town, N.M., 1940.

Higher food costs are leading Americans to cook more at home, eat out less, plant vegetable gardens and eat less beef, according to a recent poll by Parade magazine.

On Sunday morning be sure to dig through the mountain of crap in the middle of the paper to excavate Parade, because it has an interesting cover story called “What America Really Eats.” Who knew a recession would be just what we needed to start eating better? From the story:

Publicist Diana Ennen, 50, of Margate, Fla., and her computer-technician husband Greg, 48, are spending more time at home around the dinner table with their three children. “At first the kids were angry that we weren’t eating out as much,” says Diana. “My 10-year-old wanted to know why we just couldn’t get more money from the bank.” Thanks to fewer trips to the food court, the family is cooking together, making individual pizzas with fresh dough. They’re saving money and eating healthier.

Specifically, more than 80 percent of Parade’s poll respondents say higher food prices are changing the way they shop, while 35 percent of them are cooking more meals at home. Nearly half, 48 percent, say they’re eating out less, and 21 percent have planted their own vegetable garden. More than 60 percent say they’re eating less beef.

While an economic downturn brings many dark clouds, these figures represent a small silver lining. Recent research has shown that kids who eat dinner with their families have better test scores, and are less likely to smoke, drink, smoke pot or abuse prescription drugs. They’re also less likely to be obese and less likely to engage in risky teen sex. (Hey, don’t get excited. That last link will take you to the distinctly un-sexy Journal of Adolescent Health.)

So if having a little less money means that families are spending more time cooking together, that’s a good thing, say activists.

New Mexico is currently ranked the 49th state in food insecurity, says Pam Roy of Farm to Table and the New Mexico Food Gap Task Force. “About 16.5 percent of people in New Mexico are considered food insecure, meaning they probably have food fairly regularly, but there are days in the month when they may not know where [their] next meal comes from,” Roy says. When the economy gets bad, many families cut costs at the grocery store by buying foods that are cheaper, but less nutritious. So if the Parade survey is right and some of those folks are turning to growing their own vegetables and cooking more, that’s encouraging news.