Horwitz' piece on “Eating at the Edge” comments on how our society
has changed over time and how mealtimes have become less communal due to a
hectic schedule. Jamie Horwitz refers to food being an “additive to a situation, such as a cigarette would be, rather than being definitive," seeing
food as a means of distraction from work or a means of multitasking (Horwitz 42). Our
scheduled mealtimes of breakfast, lunch, and dinner have been skewed to meet
our personal time clocks. Because our lifestyle is becoming “timeless”, food
has become a 24 hour indulgence, eating for pleasure, eating while doing work,
or eating out of boredom, food has become less structured and more available
due to the efforts of companies and restaurants to make their products more
accessible on the go. America’s society
has made it acceptable to void away from eating face to face in order to better
schedule our priorities. To me, it seems Horwitz is saying that food has been
DE-prioritized as a means of bonding with those around you and instead putting
meals wherever they seem fit in order to satisfy other needs.
It does not surprise me this “snacking”
mentality over time has lead to an increase in weight of many Americans, and I
do agree as a society we have turned away from structured meal times. However,
I do not always think this is necessarily a bad thing and is not always a true
story. Although food has become an excuse to multitask, I personally use food
as a way to socialize with people I am around. Since coming to college, food
has actually gained more importance in my life because it is a way I can break
free from my hectic schedule in order to enjoy time with my friends and family.
My friends and I go to noodles once a week on Thursdays to all come together
and socialize over our favorite meal. When I visit my family at home, we always
have a meal together in order to celebrate all of us being together.
I also think it is important food
is offered at all times of day to fit our personal schedules. College is
fast-paced and busy and if food was not available to me at strange eating times
like 3:30 pm, I would most likely starve. Mealtimes may have become more
individualized, but food has always been a means of bringing people together
and it still is today.
I would die too! On two days of the week i have class from 8 to 4 straight, sometimes i forget to grab something for lunch. on those days i eat at 4 and then a strange time at night too.
ReplyDeleteThat's great that you and your friends have created a weekly routine of eating together. Sometimes planning is the hardest part, so with that done it can become something you look forward to every week. It's funny how much even a little food can do to change a situation.
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