There's nothing snobbish about the claim that food cooked with fresh ingredients are more flavourful and nutritious. Nobody can also deny that processed foods s

There's nothing snobbish about the claim that food cooked with fresh ingredients are more flavourful and nutritious. Nobody can also deny that processed foods save a lot of cooking time. But they are often unhealthier (in the long term) because of all the salt, sugar, artificial flavours and preservatives that are used in it. And they are often always costlier. It's the last 2 things that really irk me - I recently bought some cocoa powder, and was hard-pressed to find any brand selling it without artificial cocoa flavouring. These cheap artificial flavourings allow the processed food industry to reduce or substitute the original ingredient with a cheaper alternative, while ensuring the artificial flavouring doesn't let us know the difference. This is one of the major reasons people who really love cooking avoid processed foods, and often prefer fresh ingredients. All that said, people like the author should learn to care less about the unimportant / irrelevant opinions of others, especially strangers. And learn to diplomatically handle such opinions. (After all, pride and snobbery does creep in when we learn a skill that we enjoy and become better at. I confess that I am an occasional snob too since I learned cooking! As is the author, even if she doesn't realise it ...).