"But think about the benefits, when you make your own meals you are saving money, rather than paying a chief, tip, delivery fee and markup, you only pay for the ingredients."
If you think even a little bit, it is obvious, that producing prepared food at scale is more efficient than cooking it for yourself.
"as you learn to cook you gain an important skill, you gain independence ... being self-sufficient"
Right, drive yourself to work instead of using mass transit, make your own clothes, furniture, assemble your own microchips (you surely can't be a developer/admin without a microchip, so that one is very important to be self-sufficient). Don't forget to dig a hole and pump your own water!
Fallout is coming, we all need to cook right now!
Oh, and also it is much more interesting, than spending the same time on reading news/books or making something for other people!