This article is premature. There are many regions still either under partial lockdown or where people remain uneasy about going out. These trends may be interesting if they continue a year from now, but it's too early to tell.
it forced me to learn cooking! My folks have commented on this a lot, I really stepped up my cooking game in this confinement. I've learned how to make a lot of pasta sauces, and how to do them _easily and quickly_, etc. The key was learning it well enough to become comfortable with it so that it doesn't loom as some esoteric activity which will eat some unknown amount of time.
Moreover, I crossed the point of being good enough that now it's one of the activities I enjoy... and I'm now intrigued about general principles rather than wracking my brain over strictly, unconfidently following recipes to a tee. Basically, it forced me to get on the right track of starting a wonderful adventure.
Marianara sauce: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015987-classic-marinara... You'd have to buy a san marazano can and spaghetti for this, a couple bucks each, and you can store each for quite a while. You can add meatballs in it if you're not a vegetarian.
Pesto sauce: https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2014/07/best-pesto-recip... You might balk at the idea of having fresh basil... I would argue it's one of the things you really need in your life! Buy a small plant, it'll run you 3-4 dollars (if that). Keep it by your window sil so it gets some sunshine, and it looks pretty, and the responsibility of having to water it is calming and enjoyable.
A whit'ish sauce: https://lilluna.com/creamy-garlic-penne-pasta/
It really gets fun when you get fancy with it. I often add whatever vegetable I have at hand (e.g. , get some cumin seeds and bay leaves heated up in some olive oil, add some onions/garlic into this oil... and whatever spices you like and can handle (I'm partial to a bit of cayenne pepper, paprika, ground cumin), and finally add your $VEGETABLE). Add this to your pasta sauce.
Brown some ground meat. I'm a fan of some spicy pork sausage and beef. Figure a pound or so. Drain and set aside. Dice up some bacon - figure a quarter of the pack or so. Peel a couple carrots and drop them in with the bacon. Peel and cut an onion in half, toss it in. Do a couple stalks of celery too as the bacon cooks.
Once the bacon starts to crisp up, drain the fat if you need to. Add the meat back in and leave in the veg. Add a can of diced tomatoes. Add a cup of chicken stock. Add a small can of tomato sauce. Stir and cover, and let it sit on the stove for 3-4 hours at a simmer - just making the occasional bubble.
Dice an onion, a few carrots, and some celery. Smash/dice a few garlic cloves. Grab another pan, drop in a 1/4-1/2" chunk of butter, and saute up the onion for a couple minutes, add the carrots, garlic, and celery. When the chucks of garlic start turning brown, throw a half a cup or so of wine (red, white, whatever you've been drinking while you cook) into the pan and scrap up all the good stuff. Take it off heat.
Fish out the original veg you added in a few hours ago, and dump in the fresh stuff you just cooked up. Add some basil and oregano (fresh if you have it) if you have any and let it simmer for another 30 minutes.
Add a cup of milk or cream and let it simmer uncovered for another 15 minutes or so.
I enjoy it when I can take a night off, where I can do nothing but play crossword puzzles with my kids while drinking a beer, waiting for a great meal, it is one of life’s simple and stress free joys.
But it could change as easily for the good as well as the bad.
Thus I made a very concentrated effort for the good even tough work was incredibly stressful at the time. Stopped smoking cold (after 15ish years), more physically active outdoors (also to deal with loneliness and confinement living alone far from family in a large city), daily, much more money/time effective and healthier cooking (I used to mostly only do very elaborate fancy dishes on weekends), more focus on hobbies like music and painting.
Personally it looks like the lock-down which is still ongoing almost 20 weeks in, will have a long lasting positive impact on my life. But unfortunately I also know a couple of people who went in the exact other direction.
So I think there will definitely be impact on society, but it is too early to tell whether overall positive, negative or neutral.
Another nice side effect is you end up getting really good at making basic things quickly too. And you get an instinct for where you can cheat and when to do the work.
I certainly do look forward to having beers and dinner out at a restaurant some time. That time is just well into 2021, iff we are lucky.