According to the report, the number of suppers prepared by females declined slightly to 76% in 2000, down from 78% in 1995. Nevertheless, the responsibility for cooking still rests primarily on women. As a result, Harry Balzer, vice-president of NPD and author of the report, says, “Mom is looking for an easier way to prepare meals and has found three key ways to do just that.”
First and easiest of those ways is to reduce the number of dishes served during the meal. In 2000, the average supper featured 3.6 dishes, the lowest total in the 16 years of the report and an 8% drop from 10 years ago. The biggest casualty? Side dishes. In 1990, 65% of supper meals had at least one side dish, but that number dropped to 56% last year. Side dishes most often omitted were vegetables, potatoes, salads and bread.