The power of food

Joe Woolpert

The Power of Food

            We need food.  Without it we would die.  This necessity for nourishment has driven cultures to create dishes that are unique to certain regions.  These unique cultural dishes could be attributed to religious ideals or available resources.  It makes sense that beef and chicken are major parts of the American diet because that resource is very abundant in the United States.

Today food is no longer difficult for us to obtain.  Combined with efficient travel methods people have been able to spread different cultural dishes away from their origins.  For me, whenever I am able to eat a unique dish from another culture I am able to associate memories with the meal. 

            Being from a primarily British family I am used to eating traditional British foods.  My favorite dish that sparks most memories for me is shepherd’s pie.  Ground beef mixed with peas and other vegetables topped with mashed potatoes and cheese in a casserole dish and baked in the oven.  When I was much younger my grandmother would make it for me when I would visit her.  Not only did the meal supply me with the nutrients that I need but it also would make me think of family and my heritage.  Whenever I eat shepherd’s pie I think of my grandmothers cooking and my family.  

            Food doesn’t only spark thoughts of who usually cooked that dish.  It also provides us with a way to observe different cultures.  I have traveled a lot in my life and one way that you can get an unadulterated look into a society is to go to the local market and see what is for sale.  For example if the local market mainly sells fish then you know that the culture depends on fish and that you are probably close to a large body of water.  If the market only offers beef then you know that the culture depends on cattle and that most likely there isn’t a nearby body of water. This is significant to me because I am always interested in different cultures and how people live their lives.

            Before leaving my home to go to college food has been one of the main rallying points for my family to set down and talk about what is going on in life.  Eating dinner with my sister and my parents was one of the few times in the day where we were all together and not busy.  This gave me the opportunity to talk about what I have been able to accomplish and to listen to what my family has been accomplishing.  Even if I didn’t like what we were eating I still would be happy that its dinner time because I was with my family. 

            Having a daily family dinner where my entire family can sit down and eat and enjoy each other’s company is something that I always liked.  Now that I am at college and away from all of my family, dinner is still something that I look forward too.  This is regardless if I am able to meet up with friends or if I am trying to eat a quick dinner alone.  While eating dinner alone is definitely not as much fun as eating with friends, I still enjoy it occasionally.  Eating alone helps me to remember all of the dinners I ate with my family and all the things we talked about.  It is a way to reminisce of the days before I had almost complete independence. 

When I am eating with my friends those memories usually stay in the background.  With friends we all talk and share our stories just like I used to do with my family.  I will not be surprised if later in life when I eat dinner I will be reminiscing to the times when I ate cafeteria food with friends.  My point is that eating with friends is great because it is where memories can be made and shared with each other. 

 There has always been one meal that was the most meaningful to me.  That is thanksgiving dinner.  It is when tradition is able to blend with spending time with close and distant family.  I view thanksgiving is a dinner where the company is above average and the food is delicious.  I will always be able to remember the thanksgiving meals that I had with my family. 

Food can be wolfed down and treated as something that is only meant to sustain you until the next meal.  It can also be treated as a way to socialize with friends and catch up with family.  I choose the ladder of the two because for me food is a conduit that we can use to create memories and remember past experiences.