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GENERAL NEWS 4 KITCHENWARE NEWS & HOUSEWARES REVIEW ■ JULY 2014 ■ www.kitchenwarenews.com Periodicals postage paid at Tucson, AZ and additional mail- ing office. Kitchenware News & Housewares Review (USPS012-625) is published 12 times per year (Jan., Feb., March, April, May, June, July, Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec.) by Oser Communications Group, 1877 N. Kolb Road, Tucson, AZ, 85715 520.721.1300. Publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material or prices quoted in newspaper. Contributors are responsible for proper release of proprietary classified information. ©2014 by Oser Communications Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction, in whole or in part, without written permis- sion of the publisher, is expressly prohibited. Back issues, when available, cost $8 each within the past 12 months. Back issue orders must be paid in advance by check. Kitchenware News & Housewares Review is distributed without charge in North America to qualified professionals in the retail and distribution channels of the upscale kitchenware and tabletop trade. For subscriber services, including subscription information, call 520.721.1300. Printed in the USA. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Kitchenware News & Housewares Review, 1877 N. Kolb Road, Tucson, AZ 85715. PUBLISHER/EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Lee M. Oser EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Lorrie Baumann lorrie_b@oser.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Amber Gallegos amber_g@oser.com CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Donna Boyle Schwartz GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Vicky Glover ads@oser.com Yasmine Brown CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Tara Neal CIRCULATION MANAGER Jamie Green jamie_g@oser.com KN & HR ADVERTISING ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Jeff Rosano jeff_r@oser.com 520.721.1300 Kitchenware News & Housewares Review is a publication of ELM Communications, a division of Oser Communications Group, Inc. 1877 N. Kolb Road • Tucson, AZ 85715 520.731.1300 www.kitchenwarenews.com www.oser.com PRESIDENT Lee M. Oser With the publication of Michael Pollan's new book, "Cooked," foodies are rediscovering that cooking is inseparable f rom our national preoccupations with food and eating. As Pollan observes in his book, cooking has become optional for many Americans, although perhaps not as many as he thinks. American food producers and grocers are offering American consumers an ever-growing list of ready- prepared or f rozen convenience foods just at a time when the Great Recession has made time pressures worse than ever for many people, especially those with children at home, and Americans have embraced them enthusiastically. The good news about that is that data f rom the federal government suggests that Americans' diet has improved slightly as a result. The corollary of that is that cooking has become an activity that people are now approaching as a leisure activity – something to be done just for the pleasure of doing it. This gain in status probably has something to do with the popularity of television programs about cooking that offer male role models demonstrating expertise and pleasure in kitchen tasks. The good news there is that if cooking has become an activity that we are again approaching with the expectation of pleasure and even the possibility of joy, then it's also something that deserves the expenditure of resources. We're all much likelier to be willing to pay for quality cookware when it's an avenue to joy instead of a means of accomplishing a dreary necessity. Market research firm Mintel believes that about 111 million Americans might be classified as cooking enthusiasts who want to have a personalized experience in the kitchen and make creative, customized meals of which they can feel proud. As Michael Pollan puts it: "Today there are more and more people, men and women both, who view home cooking – and even raising and killing chickens! – as a means of liberation f rom the influence, on our lives and culture, of corporations like KFC. Which raises an interesting question: As a political matter, is home cooking today a reactionary or a progressive way to spend one's time?" Lee M. Oser, Publisher publisher from the H o u s e w a r e s R e v i e w KITCHENWARE NEWS S E R V I N G K I T C H E N WA R E, H O M E D E C O R A N D G I F T WA R E M A R K E T S

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