What is really cooking?

I noticed that during our reviewing of iron chef and Rachael Ray we discussed what is the meaning of cooking. Many people have the opinion that cooking involves the ingredients not being store-bought. However, on almost every cooking show, and almost every cook for that matter, store-bought ingredients are used.

I agree with this definition of cooking on some level, that one must make his or her own ingredients. Then again, can we really expect that one can never truly become a culinary artist if he does not raise and slaughter his own livestock and grow all his own fruits and vegetables?

The way I see it, it matters not if your ingredients are store-bought or not. To me, what makes cooking cooking is the degree to which one uses processed foods. For example, Julia Child uses homemade mayonnaise but store-bought butter. Child did not exactly catch her own lobsters, but she cooked them like a master in my opinion. So, what do you define as cooking? Can you cook with pre-cooked food? Can you simply use the microwave and pass it off as "microwave cooking?" That is for you to decide and develop your own opinion on what you believe is really cooking.