September 26, 2005

Allrecipes.com and USA WEEKEND Join Forces to Explore What America Is Hungry For

FIRST ANNUAL ALLRECIPES.COM & USA WEEKEND AMERICA’S KITCHEN SURVEY DIGS INTO WHAT, WHY AND HOW THE NATION EATS

Seattle, September 26, 2005 — According to a national survey commissioned by Allrecipes.com and USA WEEKEND Magazine, nearly 60 percent of American families with children eat dinner together at least five times a week. That may sound like quality family time, but the truth is that almost one third are eating dinner in front of the TV each day. This is just one of the interesting insights into America’s eating habits that will be released this weekend in the first annual Allrecipes.com & USA WEEKEND America’s Kitchen Survey. Full results from the poll, which measures food trends, attitudes and behaviors in America, will be jointly published by the two organizations at Allrecipes.com on September 30, and an article highlighting the findings will appear in the September 30 - October 2 issue of USA WEEKEND Magazine.

“With more than one million members and 15 million site visitors each year, Allrecipes.com provides a daily glimpse into the kitchens and habits of home cooks everywhere,” said Jerry Gulley, editor-in-chief, Allrecipes.com. “It was great to work with USA WEEKEND and take this one step further and explore what, why and how we eat and cook. Perhaps the most interesting result was the direct impact of our heritage, hometowns, and even pop culture.”

“Food is an essential part of USA WEEKEND’s weekly coverage and we know our readers are passionate about food,” said Jack Curry, executive editor and VP, USA WEEKEND. “This survey with allrecipes.com allows us to offer exclusive and exciting insight into America's dining habits.”

Some of the interesting insights captured by the survey include:

• Nearly half of all Americans (46 percent) say that their biggest dinner dilemma is simply figuring out what to make. It’s a bigger dilemma for women than men (49 percent versus 39 percent) and Americans ages 55 or older are significantly more likely than younger Americans to find this to be the case.
• When given the choice, more Americans would prefer to have their own mother cook Thanksgiving dinner than their spouse or even a renowned cooking personality such as Martha Stewart, Emeril Lagasse, Bobby Flay or Rachael Ray.
• For both men and women, ice cream and pizza are the top foods Americans say they would choose to eat in unlimited quantities if they could do so without gaining weight.
• Women are more likely to say that food tastes better when they don’t have to prepare it or do the dishes. For men, food tastes better when enjoying it with family and friends.
• When asked to choose a popular TV show’s character(s) for a breakfast companion, most people (34 percent) said they wanted to share a tropical fruit plate with the castaways from Lost. Thirty-one percent of the respondents wanted to share a cup of coffee with CSI’s Gil Grishom while 16 percent wanted to have cold pizza with Donald Trump from The Apprentice.
• Respondents cited that the two most important reasons to prepare meals at home are that home-cooked meals are a healthier (33 percent) and cheaper alternative (29 percent) to restaurant meals.
• Armed with these insights, Allrecipes.com recently introduced Allrecipes.com Cooknik™, a service that provides a solution to some of the “what’s-for-dinner-tonight” issues that Americans highlight in this survey. Allrecipes.com Cooknik, developed jointly with national best selling cookbook author and USA WEEKEND food columnist Pam Anderson, simplifies the weekly meal preparation process by sending recipes, meal suggestions, timesaving tips, and ready-to-go shopping lists directly to subscribers’ inboxes each week. This convenient weekly newsletter aims to save home cooks valuable time and money. Best of all, it aims to help families reclaim the dinner hour and come together around a simple, home-cooked meal.

About the Survey
For this survey, Insight Express polled 1,000 Americans aged 25 - 74 between June 27 and July 6, 2005. The survey sample has representative proportions of adults by age bracket, region of the country and presence of children under age 18 in the household.

Editors Note: Both Jack Curry, Executive Editor of USA WEEKEND and Jerry Gulley, Editor-in-Chief at Allrecipes.com are available for live and phone interviews. Please contact Ann Marie Ricard (206.287.7136) to schedule time.

About Allrecipes
Allrecipes, the world’s largest social network of food and entertaining enthusiasts, receives more than 35 million annual visits from users who share and download recipes, reviews, photos, personal profiles, and meal ideas. For more than 10 years, the Seattle-based site has served as a dynamic, indispensable resource for cooks of all skill levels seeking trusted recipes, entertaining ideas, everyday and holiday meal solutions, practical cooking tips and food advice. As the fastest growing independent food Internet site, and part of the Reader’s Digest Association, Inc. food and entertainment division, Allrecipes provides insights into the kitchens and cooking passions of home cooks everywhere.

About USA WEEKEND Magazine
USA WEEKEND Magazine is a national weekly magazine with a circulation of 22.7 million. The publication, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, is distributed in more than 600 newspapers in the United States. Awarded for its journalism and design, USA WEEKEND focuses on social issues, entertainment, health, personal finance and travel. The magazine’s Make A Difference Day is the nation’s largest annual day of community service. The magazine also provides Newspaper in Education classroom guides to partner newspapers.usaweekend.com provides enhanced content and interactive magazine features. USA WEEKEND is part of the Gannett Co., Inc.