Is it Work or Play?
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 05. 7.07
We talk often about cooking local food, making things ourselves, fixing things instead of buying new. Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt, authors of Freakonomics, ask an interesting question in the New York Times- is it work or play?
Isn’t it puzzling that so many Americans are spending so much of their time and money performing menial labors when they don’t have to? Just as the radio and phonograph proved to be powerful substitutes for the piano, the forces of technology and capitalism have greatly eased the burden of feeding and clothing ourselves. So what’s with all the knitting, gardening and “cooking for fun”? Why do some forms of menial labor survive as hobbies while others have been killed off?
Dubner and Levitt continue: An evolutionary biologist might say that embedded in our genes is a drive to feed and clothe ourselves and tame our surroundings. An economist, meanwhile, might argue that we respond to incentives that go well beyond the financial; and that, mercifully, we are left free to choose which tasks we want to do ourselves."
Treehugger might suggest that they look more carefully at their statement " the forces of technology and capitalism have greatly eased the burden of feeding and clothing ourselves." -Perhaps the cost of this in resources other than cash is getting too high.
My fiance and I cook about 90% of our meals at home. We shop at the local farmer's market whenever possible.
We find that we spend about half as much to cook on our own. We know exactly what we are, or more importantly are not getting. We make enough to take left-overs to work the next day.
There is a lot of waste in restaurant food. For one, the portions are generally 2-3 times what you should consume. While you could save the leftovers, you're probably going to have to do so in a Styrofoam container...not good for the environment and not good at keeping food fresh. You can't guarantee that everyone who handled your food washed their hands.
I'm not trying to say that restaurants are bad, I truly enjoy going out to eat. But I try to do it once or twice a week. We plan our week's meals on Sunday and then head to the farmer's market. Planning meals in advance minimizes wasted food and the produce from the market tends to last 2-3 times longer than that bought at the grocery store.
By not paying someone else to prepare my meals, I am essentially paying myself. The money remains and I am the better for it. Yes, I can afford to go out to eat, but I prefer to cook myself. I also prefer to mow the lawn and cultivate the garden.
It's a lot cheaper to cook your own food or build your own deck or grow your own food. Last year out of our small garden we got two heads of brocolli, about two pounds of beans, nine dozen tomatoes, six heads of lettuce, too many zucchini, and all the catnip, basil, rosemary, thyme and cilantro we could stand. And all that is for about a $75 investment in manure and vermiculite and water.
I just spent most of Sunday adding about 30 square feet to our back porch. It cost me about $100, not counting my labor.
The problem is that these economists don't think about people having downtime. I had little better to do this weekend than add onto my deck. Now, if I worked 80 hours a week, I probably would pay someone to do it. And I could probably afford to do that. But when would I be able to enjoy it?
I'd rather work shorter weeks and do things myself rather than work super long weeks and pay others because I'll be able to enjoy it when I'm done.
What i think is missing here is that some people enjoy manual labour. The article assumes there is always something "better" to do with your time.
For me, anyway the feeling you get of doing something yourself is the reward. Like was said earlier, what else do you do with your time? watch more commercials on tv?
Icelander-
Well put. I wanted to convey the same argument.
The time I spend on laborious hobbies wouldn't be spent earning a wage in the first place. In fact for most people that "free time" is now spent in front of a TV or some other form of entertainment.
By not spending $100/month on digital HD cable with a DVR in every room...I'm saving much more doing it myself...thank you very much.