Food- Why we Love it

Taking pictures of what you had for dinner and posting them to social media has become a thing that irritates me. Food does not irritate me, but taking pictures of food does. Hear me out, when you flipped through a grandparent’s photo album the pictures more than likely consisted of some achievement, like buying a house, bringing a new baby home, or they dressed as Professor Harold Higgins in the local town theater rendition of The Music Man.  Unless your grandpa was a chef, you would be hard-pressed to find a picture of a plate of food. But that is where we are today, and I am struggling to figure out what that means.

Coming home from the hospital with twins, my daughter recently took pictures of the food people dropped off at her house and I guess that is okay, but when the number of photos of food surpasses those of the baby twins, I begin to cringe.  Recently, I had a friend pass away, everyone brought food for the wake. One friend of mine always brings a Seven up Pound cake, its just her signature death dish. I do recall photos of the food presented at the wake but not really the name of the person that passed. Shame on me!

It is customary in many countries to welcome new neighbors with a plate of food. Greece is no exception.  Years ago, as a newly married military wife, our Greek neighbors brought over a bowl of snails drenched in garlic butter and a bottle of Ouzo. Disgusting! My husband told me that the dish was called Escargot, which is French for Disgusting Snail dish.  I never ate them, but did try the Ouzo which tastes like Licorice, but which I discovered had a completely different effect than the sugary candy.  A few days later I returned the bowl with some fruit in it and then they brought the same damn bowl back to me with rolls in it. I returned the bowl, not empty, but with some fruit in it, and then I got the bowl back with grapes in it. On and on this went and I’m thinking to myself, “will you please just keep the damn bowl!”

This past Christmas I received a gift certificate to a cooking class. We cooked Steak, Potatoes Au Gratin, Wedge Salad and Chocolate Mousse. It was spectacular I must say.  As  I watched and listened to  the other students, husbands, wives, moms and sons and daughters all banter with each other, it became clear to me that this was more than a thing about food. It was relationship building; try and cook without stabbing each other with the kitchen knife!

My favorite author, G.K Chesterton writes that Karl Marx’s theory had it all wrong, “that all the important things in history are rooted in a science for the search of food.” Yet in the Bible, from John 6:35, it states – “Then Jesus said, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Meaning that people need more than physical sustenance to survive and thrive. The soul needs nourishment through spirituality just as the body needs food.

Perhaps the picture of the plate of food so common on social media today means that you enjoyed a great meal while building good relationships, and that’s okay, just remember to try and sneak into that photo the person with whom you broke bread!