How much time do you spend cooking versus consuming ‘food media’?

With the number of food porn imagery and seemingly back to back cooking shows on TV, you could be forgiven for thinking that we’re all turning into a nation of foodies, but it turns out that this couldn’t be further from the truth, with a recent study showing that we are more interested in consuming ‘food media’ – rather than actually cooking food!

The research carried out by Lurpak, highlighted some laughable facts. Brits spend more than five hours a week watching cookery-related shows or digesting food content on social media and less than four actually whipping up something delicious in the kitchen.

A quick flick through most people’s Instagram galleries and you will see the survey is probably not far wrong. Picture perfect dishes and colourful, professionally shot looking meals and smoothies are prevalent. Where before your plate of food arrives and you take a moment to say ‘Grace’, now, that moment is more likely reserved for taking the obligatory foodie shot for social media! Even when we manage to grab the pots and pans to actually cook a meal, one in five of those surveyed admitted to making a dish at home just so they can photograph it and share it on their social media page!

Thanks @thismorning @ruthlangsford and @eamonnholmes for another amazing opportunity and always taking care of me. @rylanclarkneal get well soon. 😘 #NdudubyFafa#GhanaianChef#AfricanFoodBlogger#GhanaFood#NorthAfricanFood#NaijaFood#WestAfricanFood

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Image credit: Chef Fafa makes an appearance on This Morning

What’s causing this cooking boycott? People are citing being too busy or think it’s too complicated to try their hand at making something themselves. They would rather spend the time watching the experts. But with the number of cooking-related programmes on TV nowadays, who can blame us?

We are a nation obsessed with high profile chefs, cookery books and foodie TV shows. With over 30m viewers tuning in to the nation’s top 10 foodie TV shows every week, with a record 10.4m tuning in to Great British Bake Off.

How much time do you spend cooking versus consuming ‘food media’? — Nadiya Hussain – previous GBBO winner

I would like to say that all of this is rather bizarre behaviour, but personally I must confess that the stats do sort of ring true. Cake Boss, who just made the list of 10 most popular food related programmes, is hugely popular in my house hold. Flicking through the channels, I always pause on my favourite cooking shows, and I always pick up the free supermarket magazines, muttering under my breath, “I’ll definitely make one of the recipes in here this time!”

For me, the romance of watching all these cookery shows, is steeped in the desire to create new and exciting meals, but the reality is that life is busy and half an hour after watching Lorraine Pascale whip up that delicious looking, exotic treat, I trudge to the kitchen and start to prepare the usual familiar and quick recipes.

Below is a list of the UK’s most popular food-related TV shows. We look forward to the day when an African / Caribbean cooking show is among the top ten!