food; a substance that people or animals eat or drink, or that plants absorb in order to maintain their life and growth. But food is much more than that.
Yes, food is nutrition, is vital. Yes, food is what we absorb to maintain our life, our health, our growth. Yes, food is necessary to allow us to live, but food is much more than that.
It is a language, an art, an expression. It’s our culture. It is warm comforting welcomes presented in a bowl of soup and sweet blissful sorrys in the form of chocolates. It is romantic date nights consuming wine and spaghetti and hot summer days at the beach, licking ice creams. It is celebrating birthdays eating slices of cake and it is celebrating loved ones, honouring their favourite meal. It is there to comfort us when we’re sad and be enjoyed when we’re happy. Food brings us together, our family, our friends and our world. From inviting friends over to eat dinner to eating other foods from various cultures around the world. Food is a form of love, joy and celebration. It’s a vital and necessary thing for us to survive yes, to keep us physically stable, but how about mentally? Food provides us the nourishments and memories, the joys and excitement of new experiences, the delightful smells and tastes that release hits of dopamine. It is the root of connection, of life and culture. It is the means to a happy life.
food; a substance providing not only the physical nourishment to our bodies, but the mental nourishment in our lives, embedded in each and every culture.