Food · Facts & sources
4 sourced facts about cooking and home food preparation, each with the context behind the number. 4 more are in today's round and appear here after it closes.
Answerabout 3.8 million a year
Household air pollution from cooking with solid fuels is linked to about 3.8 million premature deaths every year worldwide.
Source: WHO, via Wikipedia (2021) en.wikipedia.org
Answerweekdays, 66% vs 63%
Slightly more Americans did food preparation on weekdays (66%) than on weekend days (63%) in 2025, per federal time-use data.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey (2025) bls.gov
Answerabout 780,000 years
Heated fish teeth found in a deep cave suggest controlled cooking fires date back roughly 780,000 years.
Source: Wikipedia, Cooking (2012) en.wikipedia.org
Answerabout 250,000 years ago
Cooking fires appear to have become widespread among early humans starting around 250,000 years ago, based on ancient hearth evidence.
Source: Wikipedia, Cooking (2012) en.wikipedia.org