EYB by the numbers

February 20, 2021 by
 |  4 Comments  |  Leave Comment

We are fast approaching the one year anniversary of lockdowns for most of us. The first stay at home order where I live was March 13, so three weeks from today will mark one year since our lives were upended by the coronavirus known as Covid-19. I went from commuting 100 miles each day to working from home nearly full time, with only sporadic visits to an office that was dramatically transformed with plexiglass workstations, mandatory mask wearing, and mostly empty offices. The loss of conviviality that was a trademark of my workplace has been disheartening, but I am extremely fortunate because I still have a job and my family has mostly escaped any dire consequences from illness.

Like so many others, I have been cooking almost all of my meals from home and doing so many dishes over the past twelve months. This experience has sparked an appreciation for the conditions my ancestors faced living on a remote farm in the frozen northland, having no recourse but to do these tasks day in and day out – and without the internet to keep them connected to friends and family.

EYB Members have likewise turned to cooking more at home, as is evidenced by looking at our site statistics over the past year. Compared to 2019’s figures, the number of Notes added to recipes in 2020 increased over 38%, the amount of Bookmarks jumped a whopping 61%, and the number of people signing up for the EYB mailing list is up by over 23%. We are grateful that EYB has become a go-to resource to help our Members navigate this strange new world in which we find ourselves.

As we looked at the statistics, one thing surprised us, however: the use of our EYB shopping list tool declined slightly in the past year. With the rise of online grocery shopping, there has never been a better time to take advantage of this feature (learn more here in Help). Although I have never been a decided meal planner, I have found that creating a weekly menu has boosted my motivation to cook as well as aided my now only once-per-week grocery shop. Stay tuned as we are working to improve our shopping list feature in the coming months. And as always, we wish you happy cooking.

Category: What's New on EYB

Post a comment

4 Comments

  • ShannonR48  on  February 20, 2021

    Thanks for sharing! This was an interesting read. I appreciated the opportunity to learn about some of the EYB features, too, as I just joined last night:)

    • Darcie  on  February 20, 2021

      Welcome! We hope you find Eat Your Books to be an invaluable resource. Don’t forget to check out the Member Forum to learn more about EYB.

  • eliza  on  February 20, 2021

    That is interesting as I had noticed an uptick in the number of notes and new members. I’ve been here for almost 10 years, and the site has been a godsend for me. I had been very ill for about 4 years before the pandemic, and had barely been able to eat much at all. After going through the years of treatments and then medications, I had my last really bad day (health wise) on March 9, 2020, just in time for a pandemic to kick in! So I’ve sort of experienced the lock down measures in reverse…I had more freedom, not less! I was suddenly able to cook and eat small amounts of good food including new dishes, and I was able to read up on recipes and plan ahead a bit. Since I’m still not able to go to grocery stores (immunocompromised), I’ve found the filters on EYB especially useful, and discovered quite a few keepers along the way.
    Welcome to ShannonR48 and all the other new members. If you love cookbooks this is a great place to be.

  • Rinshin  on  February 21, 2021

    Eliza, I am really glad your health is coming back. I was also out of action for about 1 1/2 years five years ago. The treatments affected my fingers and hands badly and generally weak and unable to stand too long. My great pleasure then was being able to sit at the kitchen counter cutting food and prepping best I could. I could not easily handle knife then and being able to use knife was my first baby steps into cooking again. I think about all the people dealing with serious health issues during this time and how much easier it was for me before pandemic even with health issues.

Seen anything interesting? Let us know & we'll share it!

Categories

Archives