The Power of Food: Building a Sense of Community
This time of year is always a time of immense satisfaction to me. I feel wealthy, decadent, spoiled, as I eat meal after meal after meal of meats, cheeses, fruits, and vegetables that come directly from my own farm and from the work of my hands. My husband and I love to eat well. We love the idea of slow food and of taking the time to enjoy each bite. Yes, food is for sustenance, but when you look at what food does for us as people, it is so much more.
Food builds community. Think about the times you have spent hanging out with friends around a dining table, connecting with your children or parents each day or eating a romantic dinner with your favorite person. Food helps us to slow down, to talk, to laugh, and to see each other where we are at. Growing up, our family put a lot of importance on our meals at the table. Books needed to be set aside and we were taught to give each other intentional attention, using our listening to see each other and love each other over delicious and filling food. These times fill more than our stomachs. They fill our hearts and our minds as well.
But food builds community in even deeper ways. When we step outside our homes, we move from our small units to our larger spheres of life. We interact with people who are different from us. We learn grow and see the beauty of diversity around us. Food can transport us to an awareness and love for other cultures. Think about the times you’ve sat down at a Mexican, Indian, Puerto Rican restaurant. As you eat the foods prepared for you, you are being given a gift of seeing a culture through its taste buds. When I think of food as sharing cultures, I think of my friend, Michiyo, who when she visits from Japan, loves to cook large beautiful meals for my family. She makes tempura, rice, curry and shares the seasonings..spices…snacks…and sauces with us. As we eat her lovingly made meal, she eats chicken corn noodle soup, Italian Hoagies, and scrapple. The beauty of sharing food, culture and ourselves with one another.
As a farmer, my attachment for food goes beyond my own family and into my community. I love to hear of meals prepared by my customers for their families whether for holidays, daily meals, or for a special friend. I love knowing that the food I labor to provide to my community is creating these pockets of relationship, these connections between people. Food is a beautiful thing. Farming is a beautiful thing. And I am lucky to be a part of it.
