In Defense of Food

I think that it's kind of crazy that some one has to write a book defending food. That's exactly what author Michael Pollan has done. He asserts that we've become so paranoid about what we eat that we have lost sight of the fact that food is more than its nutritional components. It's about connection and culture and nature. Real food, that is. Not the packaged, canned, fast or fake stuff that gets passed off as food.

This time of year gets me to thinking about the pleasures of eating. We have more dark hours than light, more cold than warmth, and my thoughts wander to the kitchen. I get in the cooking mode but the ingredients must be fresh and seasonal. Even more important is that we eat dinner together by candlelight every night for no special reason other than to celebrate the communal aspect of our meal.

When I was a kid growing up dinnertime was sacrosanct. Dad was home by 5:00 with dinner on the table no later than 5:30. Everyone was expected to eat dinner together and conversation was highly encouraged ~ so encouraged, in fact, that spirited debate often accompanied the mashed potatoes and meatloaf or whatever else Mom cooked up that night. By 6:00 Dad was off watching the news with Walter Cronkite but we sometimes straggled behind keeping the debate going.

Over the years I somehow lost the importance of sharing food on a regular basis. It became about a fast meal and on to the next thing. But I've been rediscovering the epicurean and social pleasures of mealtime. Maybe it wasn't so crazy for Pollan to write his book. Maybe we all need to slow down and be reminded that a good meal enjoyed with others is the "only way to oppose the universal folly of fast life."