I agree completely! Whenever I read one of the many articles published about how shameful it is that we eat alone, or serve kids scratch meals, or how eating as a family keeps teens from drug use (never mind there is never a mention of whether this causes the behaviour or goes along with more traditional families etc), I always ask "who is preparing these meals? Who's cleaning up after them? Who's' buying the food, storing it and restoring the leftovers?" 

Your comment about family meals as kids is spot on. My memories are this: exhausted mom preparing a meal. Mom yelling at the kids to set the table. Dad showing up in a bad mood ready to bark at someone. Clearing the table. Over and over.

Life is short. As a mother now I can find many other things to do than hours of meal preparation. Excuse me now while my husband and I take the kids to the rec centre for a swim...