The Cultural Significance of Food

This blog has restarted for multiple reasons including requests for recipes from friends and family, my own personal joy of eating, inspiration from my job as I learn about where food comes from and the details of the obesity epidemic, and finally an article I read yesterday.

The article described a cultural phenomenon that makes me extremely sad. Americans now live in such a fast paced society that the food we eat is mostly pre-prepared and pre- processed. We eat out; both at restaurants and fast food. But the next generation of children is not learning how to cook, and may entirely depend on pre-prepared foods if we don't do something about it.

The article addresses this issue without listing differences in class, however, due to my job, I have noticed these differences. Chicago is a food desert; this means that there are many areas of the city where, without a car, it is not possible to get to a grocery store. Many of these areas are on the South and West sides of Chicago, which also is under served by public transportation. This means that if residents are poor, and unable to afford a car, the food options that are a reality for them consist almost entirely of fast food.

This problem makes me sad, not only because of the increasing  amounts of obesity-related disease and disability and decreasing life expectancy that will continue to be a problem in our society because of the obesity epidemic. But also, because of a loss of an important art and tradition.

My boyfriend, as I mentioned before, is Italian and I have lived in Spain. In these countries, it is normal to spend a good portion of the day cooking. D regularly spends 6 hours making a good pasta sauce; and occasionally we make homemade gnocchi, a process that takes more than 4 hours! In Italy, the day's activities revolve around meals; meals are a time when the entire family comes together, talks about the day, enjoys a glass of wine. They are not rushed. When eating out, it is normal to sit at a table for hours before leaving the restaurant; the wait staff never rushes the customer, in part because the tradition of eating is so important.

In the US, it is true that we have fewer culinary traditions. But, I think that it is just because we don't take time to savor the joy of cooking, the bliss of eating, and the pleasure of having company at meal time. We're in too much of a hurry.

I hope that you enjoy this blog, and even try some of the recipes at home, to continue the art of cooking right in your own home.

Tonight we are having some friends over and making homemade sushi, so you can expect some recipes and photos from our event later.




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