Carol Haddix, Good Eating editor, retiring April 1

A farewell to Good Eating, The Stew and you wrote:Back in the ’70s, ’80s and into the ’90s, robust food sections were the norm, when advertising—often in double-page spreads—supported sections of 20 pages or more. Full-color covers focused on the food, luscious, up-close food you could almost grab off the page. We helped readers with shopping and cooking advice, health-food primers and price surveys. We ran columns in the ’80s on how to cope with those new tools on the market: microwave ovens and food processors.

It's sad to see the diminishing food sections of today and the corresponding shrinking advertising that support them, just when it seems as if food is on more people’s minds than ever before. It's also sad to see cooking at home being replaced by expensive frozen packages of entrees and desserts, or by pizza delivery and restaurant takeout. Sure, everyone's in a hurry, but are those sports events, meetings and yes, TV, as important as sitting down together at the dinner table and talking over a good meal?