The Thing about Food

Food is never just about eating. It means so much more.

If you asked me what I think about food, I’d probably answer, “It depends on whether it tastes good and whether it feels good.” But the issue is probably a bit more complex than that.

First of all, it’s about the nutrition aspect. That is, the stuff that keeps our bodies running, what ‘keeps us going’. Whether this kind of material is good for you or not is something you have to measure for yourself by how good it makes you feel and how long it keeps doing that.

Second, there’s the personal aspect of food that makes you feel at home. You know the feeling you had when you were called to have dinner back when. Your grandma’s way of preparing asparagus, your mother’s soup, the special way a good friend serves a homemade pie … .

Third, if you want to go deeper, it’s about countless possible ingredients of the food. Ingredients – familiar or new, obvious or maybe a little surprising, indispensable or just that little extra you need to make a good meal. And then there are the myriad ways to combine all those ingredients.

And of course, real food is never just for one person. Food is something that creates shared experiences and values. Society needs to be well fed, and so does the world we live in. We can’t eat all the cherries in the world and turn all the cherry trees into elegant tables and chairs (I inherited some that are still beautiful and sturdy after 100 years in the family). That would cause cherry pie or the literal ‘cherry on top’ to become as extinct as dinosaurs. Besides, the human right to food is in the human rights charter these days. Makes you think, doesn’t it?

Speaking of tables and chairs. Food also includes places to enjoy it. As in the canon we sang in school about music, “Where there’s singing, you can sit down and rest, because people with a song are good people.” So where there is good food, you can sit down and rest, because there are good people. But what are these places like and where are they located? Wouldn’t you like to know that to save yourself a long walk?

And what do the people who make and love good food look like? How do they live and why do they eat the way they do? I think that’s interesting as well and deserves to be explored in more detail.

All in all, when it comes to food at large, I’m mostly curious and want to learn. And I would love to share my experiences with you. As ‘good food for thought’ so to speak, you know?

We can’t eat all the cherries in the world and turn all the cherry trees into elegant tables and chairs. That would cause cherry pie or the literal ‘cherry on top’ to become as extinct as dinosaurs.

Side Notes:

• There is a category on this blog called ‘People & Places’ that takes a closer look at what connects us to our food. Also, if you want to get an idea of the wide variety of topics, check out the tag cloud.