
Ask HN: What if we got rid of the kitchen? - miguelrochefort
Most homes have a kitchen. What if we got rid of it? What if society evolved in such a way that people no longer cook for themselves?<p>- Cost: Houses and appartments would be smaller and cheaper. No more kitchen and dining room. How much does a fridge, freezer, oven, microwave, stovetop, BBQ, table, chairs, granite countertop,  pots and pans, plates, glasses, utensils, kitchen instruments, dishwasher and sink cost?<p>- Environment: No fridge and freezer running 24&#x2F;7. No oven or stove that consume energy. No need for your gas tank to be refuelled. No need to use water to wash your dishes. No need to drive to and from the grocery. Much less waste, and garbage truck doesn&#x27;t need to go to every house as frequently.<p>- Safety: Less fire hazards, burns, cuts. Less expensive insurance?<p>- Time: No need to spend hours cooking, cleaning, washing dishes, driving to and from the grocery to stock your fridge, take out the trash, etc.<p>We could get rid of most groceries (at least, the consumer-facing aspect), cashiers, parkings, etc. Things will be packaged in bulk, which will reduce production cost and pollution (no individual or family-size packages). Because cooking will be done for a large number of people at once, it should be easier to predict demand, use local ingredients, use ingredients in season, and reduce waste and cost.<p>Looking forward to a new city or district designed for the kitchen-less lifestyle.
======
ksherlock
Most homes have a bathroom. What if we got rid of it? What if society evolved
in such a way that people no longer need to take a shit?

\- Cost: Houses and appartments would be smaller and cheaper. No more
bathroom. How much does a toilet, sink, shower, vanity, and towels cost?

\- Environment: No need to use water to flush your toilet. No need to buy
toilet paper . Much less waste, and plumber doesn't need to go to your house
as every other week to unclog the toilet.

\- Safety: Less hemorrhoids and prolapse. Less expensive insurance?

\- Time: No need to spend 3-4 hours every day taking a dump, cleaning skid
marks and blood out of your underwear, etc.

Looking forward to a new city or district without any assholes.

~~~
AznHisoka
What if we got rid of the modern toilet and replaced it with a hole and you
had to squat to take a dump? With a hose instead of a sink? Less hemorrhoids,
less space. Less paper.

------
augb
Except that, for many, eating is a social activity that is enjoyed, not just
outside of the home, but _especially_ in the home.

For many, time around the dinner table is a highlight. Inviting people into
your home becomes more hospitable with the addition of food and drink. Even if
it is not a full meal, taking all means of food production from the home seems
like a step back.

Also, when someone is sick, should they _have to_ go out to get food? Wouldn't
it be better to be able to have something in the fridge?

~~~
miguelrochefort
Do you believe that in 100 years, most houses will have kitchens and people
will cook for themselves? I don't think so.

~~~
dluan
Yes because cooking is not just a physical chore. It's how people customize
and decide what to suit their personal tastes, and it's an action that
requires thinking and intent. The act of choosing one option over the other
given variety.

Unless you get every single possible option through some magical food
provider, you will still have to put in work towards the food you eat. But
even then, if I got to eat burritos every day (my favorite food), I would
still eat something else.

This is all moot, because for a lot of people cooking is fun and a social
activity.

------
J-dawg
When I travel for work, it always surprises me how quickly I get sick of
eating in hotels and restaurants. To begin with it's a great novelty, and it's
nice when my employer is paying, but there always comes a time when I'd rather
just buy some simple ingredients and make something for myself. I'm pretty
sure I'm not unusual in this regard, so I think the kitchen is here to stay.

On the other hand, when I'm at home, cooking every day becomes a real chore
and takes up a lot of time.

I think there is some very real potential for new approaches to communal
cooking and eating, with more opportunities emerging as the cities we live in
become more densely populated. Just don't pitch it as "getting rid of the
kitchen".

------
kele
I think that this is interesting question.

It has been already pointed out, that cooking/eating at home is not just a way
to provide fuel for your body. There are many other reasons, like: \- pure fun
\- social activity \- adjusting the meal to your taste \- not having to go
outside (especially when the weather is bad or you're sick) \- a way to save
money (but you've proposed an alternative for this) \- eating healthy (it's
very hard to eat the right amount of good quality food outside)

On the other hand, I've recently heard about a new marketing campaign by IKEA
in Poland, where they opened a "social kitchen", where you could book some
time and hang out together with your friends.

------
eaandkw
Sounds like you would enjoy the military. Barracks, no kitchen...at least not
in the Marine Corps. You don't get to choose what you want to eat you just eat
what is served whether you like it or not. If you miss the chow hours because
of work, traffic, or any other activities tough luck. Maybe you won't miss the
next meal. Oh yeah. Don't forget to get in the line early because if you don't
get in line two hours before the meal actually starts you might have to wait
in line for two hours and actually miss the meal anyway. And since everyone
eats at the community kitchen you run out of food before the meal hours are
even over.

Sounds like a good plan.

------
CindyPtn
We joke that I choose our current house for the walk-in pantry and large
kitchen. What's the point of an home if you can't cook in it? That would be so
sad, may as well sleep in a dorm.

I wouldn't mind getting rid of grocery stores buying in bulk for our family if
the option was available, and have easy to compost packages so I wouldn't have
to throw them in the trash. Those improvement could happen even if people
cooked at home.

------
JSeymourATL
The Soviets distrusted kitchens, because the kitchen is something bourgeois.
Every family, as long as they have a kitchen, they have some part of their
private life and private property >
[http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/05/20/314054405/how...](http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2014/05/20/314054405/how-
russias-shared-kitchens-helped-shape-soviet-politics)

------
throwaway420
Even in cities where most people don't frequently cook and often subsist on
eating out, takeout, and delivery, I don't think most people would choose to
completely get rid of their kitchens.

That being said, this is an interesting thought-experiment and I'd certainly
like to see more experimentation with non-traditional houses, tiny houses and
microhouses, apartments, and living spaces.

Especially for young people just out of college and looking for inexpensive
housing in big cities, I'd think apartment complexes that were more like
college dorms with lots of built-in facilities that take care of tasks for you
like cooking/laundry would be appealing to many.

Unfortunately however, I think that in many locations certain things are
mandated into legislation that would prevent or at least make this kind of
experimentation legally challenging. There's probably housing code in most
regions that would make a kitchen-less home impossible to legally construct.
This kind of legislation ostensibly exists to protect people, but as many
people increasingly realize, often does the opposite.

------
galfarragem
Everything depends on your income and opportunity cost. If you earn $100+/h
maybe it doesn't worth to cook (as obligation), but if you earn $10/h, does
this apply?

Imagine a low income family of 4 eating out every single meal. Do you think
they could afford it? Probably not even fast food. HN community is the
exception, not the rule. By the way cooking is one the most useful skills that
you can have: within an hour you can transform a few dollars in a $100+ meal.
Not a bad rate.

------
finid
It's a case of "if it's not broken, don't fix it".

If you can't cook, what are you going to be eating? Junk food? Gourmet food
delivered to you?

The cost of feeding yourself will eat into your monthly wages in a hurry.

There're rental apts in New York City where you don't have cooking facilities.
Folks in those situations do all they can to get a regular apt where they can
enjoy a cooked mean whenever they please.

No, sir, I'll keep my kitchen.

~~~
miguelrochefort
If nobody had kitchens, there would be cafeterias where you could go to eat
(most people would get a monthly pass). Meals there would be much cheaper than
anything you could cook at home, because of economy of scales.

~~~
davemac8
What about people who _want_ to cook in their kitchen and eat with their
family? I think you may be looking at this too logically, not taking into
account the emotional part of preparing and eating food.

------
airbreather
You might be surprised what you can cook on just a toasted sandwich maker - we
call ours the UCD or Universal Cooking Device. Throw in a rice cooker and you
can make all sorts of meals. My mother spent the first 3 years of married life
with little else other than an electric fry pan in terms of cooking
appliances.

------
Spooky23
Maybe for single and rich people.

The cost for prepared food is at least 5x what you can do at home.

~~~
yen223
I guess you could argue that if you can't/won't cook, then paying 5x for food
is better than paying thousands of dollars for stuff you'll never use anyway.

That said, I still want a kitchen. Cooking is fun!

~~~
Spooky23
Absolutely. My grandfather had a friend like that who was also loaded (DINK +
old money) and had no kids. They lived in a fancy hotel suite.

------
billconan
China used to be like this, we called it socialism. Back then, the communities
were organized around the companies, although we didn't call them "companies",
we call them "units". they are all run by the government. And you don't get a
salary, instead, the companies give food tickets (housing was free). you go to
eat at the community cafeteria with the food tickets.

apartments had kitchens still. but they were very basic. I remember some
apartments had only one kitchen per floor.

~~~
billconan
But I don't think your idea would work though. not everyone sees cooking as a
burden of life. many enjoy it.

others prefer cooking for less living expenses. for connivence. what if you
get hungry at midnight? what if the kind of food you like is far away.

making food together is also a good social occasion. it gathers people
together.

------
jschwartzi
I like cooking for myself. It's one of the few activities I can do that I can
regularly feel productive in. If you take away my kitchen I'll start fires
outside.

------
RogerL
So, life in a dorm room freshman year?

No thanks. It sounds terrible.

I'd type more but I'm about to trundle off to the kitchen to grab some aged
cheese from the fridge, and a great beer.

------
tomohawk
We were looking to buy a house. One house we were shown, there was something
different about the kitchen. There was no stove! We laughed and left.

~~~
paulcole
What were your feelings on the rest of the house? I'd imagine a dream house
with no stove is something that can be overcome.

------
jhildings
>\- Time: No need to spend hours cooking, cleaning, washing dishes, driving to
and from the grocery to stock your fridge, take out the trash, etc.

Put part of those things are fun, the cooking and buying different groceries
and walking around in stores to explore what they have to offer.

I don't get this "cooking is such a burden" thoughts that is quite frequent on
HN

------
kleer001
You'd have better luck socializing/sharing/networking the automobile as
they're mobile and not a part of literally +99.99% of all domiciles. And cars
have an even bigger negative impact than kitchens.

