The much-anticipated week has finally arrived — the first week back to classes. I can tell you what is already going through most people’s heads.
Wowies: “That was the most amazing week ever! School is so awesome!”
Wow Leaders: “I’m so exhausted, and now school?”
The rest of us: “Moving in. Getting classes. Club meetings. Goodbye free time!”
Now it is all good and fine to have these things on our mind, but where does food fit into the picture? For most of us, we are or have been on a campus dining plan.
When on that dining plan, most of us don’t even give a thought to eating except, “What food is on this side of campus?” or “What is even open?” As we move off campus, we have to give at least a little more effort to eating, but let’s face it, getting and having food isn’t too big of a deal to many of us. Most people don’t even realize that the relationship we have with food becomes both a blessing and a curse.
We are blessed in that most of us aren’t too worried about food being on our plate when we sit to eat — there will be, and that’s a good thing. Sadly, for many others around the world, this is simply not the case, even in our very own San Luis Obispo county, hundreds of families fear that when they sit to eat, there will not be food on their plates. So yes, we are blessed beyond belief.
And yet, we are cursed at the very same moment. Due to the convenience of obtaining food for ourselves, the prevalence of mindless eating and black-listing of certain foods within our culture, we have lost much of the joy that food and eating have to offer. Diets, evil carbs, bad fats, too many calories and not enough time are just some of the plagues that have been added to hinder our enjoyment of food. But how do we change that?
The first step to altering the curse could be as simple as a DTR (define the relationship).
If we don’t make food just the fuel to get us from point A to point B, and we stop allowing it to solely be the study topic of nutrition majors, maybe it could be much more. I believe if we took the time to gain a little more food knowledge for ourselves, it could actually be enjoyable — dare I even say downright pleasurable to grow, buy, prepare and eat food?
This year, as you expand your horizons and see what another year at college has to offer you, why not seek to gain a little more food knowledge and redefine your relationship with food in order to experience what so many of us miss out on each meal? You could even take a step toward redefining someone else’s relationship with food.
This weekend there is a Hunger Walk put on by the SLO Food Bank. You can find more information on the hunger walk online.