Culinary Arts
Food is life. No matter where you go, the universal sign of compassion and unity will be food. In every culture, society, group, and country, food will always be one basic yet effective way to understand each other. Food and its meaning can change but still have the same effect no matter where you live or travel. Food can have heart, or it can be soulless, the only deciding factor is how you perceive the value in your life.
My family, being from India, has some very traditional practices when it comes to food and eating. For example, at the dining table, it is considered disrespectful to eat with your left hand or to leave your plate unfinished by even the smallest crumb. In many Indian families, this is a tradition that has its roots from our religion. I understand that many families in this country are always secluded from their families and eat alone. While there may be academic incentives to eat with your family, I think it goes beyond that. If you can’t take the time to stay connected with your family one time out of the entire day, how will you ever stay connected once you go to college or move away?
In my opinion, I think that our tradition of staying connected through food has been a key factor in my academic success. The reason for this being that through me staying connected, I am constantly being reminded of what I am aiming for in my future and the steps I need to take in order to achieve my goal. By eating dinner with my family every day, I am reminded of the things that are important to me in life: respect, honesty, and happiness. Every time we eat dinner, I am reminded this is a privilege and not everyone has the same experience. Food grounds me to reality and keeps me moving to the future.
Food can be anything you or your family wants it to be. Personally, for my family, we use food to relax and talk to each other about how our day has been. We come together every day to discuss what happened during our day to stay connected during our busy lives. I wish every family could eat consistent meals together every day.
