1.) Food Writing: what are your experiences with both reading and writing about food?
I do not have any experience with writing about food. However, I do love to read about food and have several subscriptions to food magazines. I also enjoy reading cookbooks.
2.) What role does food play in your life? How important or unimportant is it to you? In what ways does it feel simple and/or complex?
Food often feels overwhelming to me. Of course I enjoy to eat but to a degree food has been something I have feared for awhile. I have a negative perception that food is this evil thing that causes despair and your jeans to not fit! This has begun to change though. Instead of seeing food as this simple and scary thing I have begun to realize that it is what keeps us going and gives us fuel throughout the day. I have also begun to respect food and the earth's natural ability to provide for us. Food is so complex and is something amazing, offering us limitless poissibilities, excitement, and even adventure.
3.) Has this role changed over the years? Talk specifically about your younger self vs. your older self.
The role that food plays in my life has changed drastically. For a long time I had an unhealthy and negative view of food. Food in my mind was terrifying and bad. Food now has become a way to be adventurous. As a child I was a pretty boring eater and then as a teenager and young adult I became a very restrictive eater. As my view of food became healthier I became more passionate about food. When I started dating by boyfriend he really opened my eyes to the adventurous side of eating. I have found a desire to try interesting and different things and have found that the majority of the time, I love it! My boyfriend has exposed me to new cultures and genres of food. I feel as though the role food has changed into for me is far more satisfying and exciting.
4.) French critit Brillat-Savarin said, "Tell me what you eat and I'll tell you what you are." What do you think this says about us? What beliefs, perceptions, and judgements do we make about others based on the food they eat? How do we classify those around us-and ourselves- through food?
Food has the ability to expose an incredible amount about a person. It can expose a person's social class and ethnicity. Depending on what people do or do not eat you can decipher their religious beliefs, political standings, or allergies. I think that people judge those who eat cheaper as frugal or poor and those who eat more high end things as snobby or rich. Where people dine exposes their economic status. Food judgement can be harsh. We can easily accuse those who eat fast food or junk food as unhealthy. Perhaps we are aware of food judgement at times and this makes us change the way we would eat for a moment. For instance, many women want to appear healthy and fit so they opt for a salad on a first date when really they are dying for the prime rib!
5.) Food is universal- We all have to eat, so food becomes a way to bring people together. But food can also seperate and alienate us. Talk about the experiences you've had with both.
Food is a wonderful way to bring people together. I love to cook for my family and boyfriend. I have a passion to feed people and I love when they enjoy what I have prepared special for them. It is a great social outlet. If I called up my siblings and invited them over to sit around the table and do nothing no one would come. But, if I invited them to come sit around the table and feast on some homemade eggplant parmesan...well now you're talking! My family tries to get together for a meal pretty much every chance we get. There are six people in my family and now that everyone has jobs and seperate lives it is the only time that we can all really talk about what is going on in our lives. Food brings us all together. At the same time food can be alienating especially for those who have religious or political convictions that restrict their diets. Food can also be alienating and a source of discomfort for those with food allergies or eating disorders.
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