Commensality: The Importance of Social Eating

Creating a meal and sharing it with friends and family has long been an important aspect of eating. However our society has increasingly viewed eating as an individual act. Convenience, price, calories, nutrients, fats, etc. are what most Americans consider when making their daily food choices. Under these conditions many would consider a Slimfast shake and a McDonald's salad a reasonable meal. Lunch breaks are squeezed into a half hour period and in many workplaces lunch breaks are alternated so there is somebody working at all times. The half hour allows for just enough time for you to grab your Slimfast out of the fridge, hop in your car, drive to McDonald's, pick up your salad, and consume your meal while heading back to work.

What happened to commensality? Cultures are shared and bonds are created when a meal is shared. We need to bring the importance of community back into food. You can often learn a lot more about someone from cooking with them than from talking. Food engages all your senses and can speak a lot about a person. Heritage is passed down through food. Teaching the younger generations how to cook and interact with food allows them engage with their culture and bond with the past. Sharing food and cooking techniques with friends gives them a chance to learn about your culture. Giving the cultures a taste, a smell, a feeling can increase respect between groups of people. Sharing food can also bring out emotion, like the comfort felt from eating a meal cooked by mom or the romance your partner (or date) cooking for you.

Culture, emotions, and bonding are all integral parts of eating a meal that are being squeezed out because of our busy lifestyle. We need to make social eating more of a priority and a focus when considering what to eat in a day. The connections food can create between people are too valuable too overlook.