As I said in the previous post, I really enjoyed Pollan's
use of the academic research in his book. He found some gems. Steve and I liked this:

In fact, most American families today report eating dinner together three to four nights a week, but even those meals bear only the faintest resemblance to the Norman Rockwell ideal. If you install video cameras in the kitchen and dining room ceilings about typical American families, as marketers for the major food companies have done, you'll quickly discover that the reality of the family dinner has diverged substantially from our image of it. Mom might still cook something for herself and sit at the table for a while, but she'll be alone for much of that time. That's because dad and each of the kids are likely to prepare an entirely different entree for themselves, "preparing" in this case being a synonym for microwaving a package. Each family member might then join mom at the able for as long as it takes to eat, but not necessarily all at the same time. Technically, this kind of feeding counts as a family diner in the survey results, though it's hard to believe it performs all the customary functions of a shared meal. (p.189-190)