I recently watched the short documentary series Cooked on Netflix. Obviously, this series focuses on cooking, but more specifically the relationship that humans have with food and how it has altered over time. There are four total episodes and they are cleverly divided into the categories of fire, water, air, and earth. Although the focus is on food, it also outlined many significant environmental injustices and interesting human tendencies.

My favorite episode was the first one, which focused on how humans have adapted and captivated fire throughout time. We would not be who were are without fire because cooking is what originally separated us from other species. Fire is essentially what made us human. Eating raw has actually become unsafe for our health, meaning that fire caused us to become biologically developed to rely on cooked food. The importance of cooking is something that our society now takes for granted. The documentary talked about the meaning of tradition that is wrapped into a meal. The meal is essential to human nature and is critical to our well-being. I thought this sentiment was really interesting because in today’s society many typical families rarely sit down for a meal. We have given up an element of pleasure when it comes to having a meal, which was promoted through the introduction of fast food or tv dinners. The documentary utilized mouth watering and slow-mo food shots as a call to action to stop overlooking the act of cooking.

Another aspect that the Cooked addressed was that our society has become unaware of the cruelties happening in the meat industry, due to the companies covering it up. This became the trend when fast food created pressure on originally sustainable farms to produce more product at a faster pace. Factory farms are a product of the disconnect consumers have to their food source. This impactful portion of this series reminded me of the documentary we recently watched, Food Inc. The overarching theme of the food industry today is that most people have no idea how the food they are eating arrived on their plate. As corporations monopolized the meat industry, factory farms and mistreatment of animals became the norm. This a product of massive outsourcing, which turns the population into passive consumers.

Cooked also went on to explain how we have distanced ourselves from the gratitude we used to have for fire. Civilization began around a fire, yet we now view moving away from it as progress. Historically cultures survived because of fire, causing it to be tied to religious mentalities. For example, the Martu people in Western Australia who still incorporate a “fire baptism” into their religious worships. Now we have confined the element of fire to a simple aesthetic feature, hiding the use of it in metal containers. Another layer is that there are unseen fossil fuel fires burning everywhere, supporting our materialistic lifestyles.

Overall, if you can’t tell by my rambling of information, this documentary series in incredibly well done and I recommend it to everyone. Also, Michael Pollan is one of the creators of the show, so you know it is going to be good!

Here is a link to the series:  Cooked