Having dinner is central to Generations of Good Food. Whether they are family, friends, or strangers, it’s eating with others that make food delicious.
I think the biggest thing to grieve about the modern world is the decline of communal relations. At first when I started living in my current home, I did not know who any of my neighbors were. I was alone and isolated in a new city on the other side of the country. I’d moved there because of work. Then, as I thought about it, even when I was at my old haunts, I never knew who my neighbors were there either. I knew their names, but I didn’t know who they were as people. As I thought further about it, for the life of me, I can’t remember if I ever had meaningful interactions with anyone else, aside from friends and family, after I got out of college.
That is a harrowing thing. Perhaps that is why people are suffering, and there is a troubling tension in the air across the world. People are becoming less connected to their communities.
Of course, the socio-economics of what that entails is something that I will not be talking about, nor do I have the expertise to discuss it at length. But what I can talk about is my personal feelings on the matter.
Knowing that there is a slow disappearance of communal activity, most prominent in urban areas, actually helped me realize what was missing in my life. For all my life, I just thought that living alone, being cooped up in your room, acknowledging only the presence of neighbors, and just engaging with those who you knew personally was the way of life.
But learning that a vital part of society is on the verge of being lost, learning that other countries don’t have the same problem, and learning that there is more to being a neighbor than simply living adjacent to them, I can’t help but be enlightened.
I’ve lived in cities all my life, you see, and while I can’t imagine myself living in a rural town, I am envious of the ease with which they can interact with others in their community.
Having Dinner with Others is Important
The one thing I missed most when I was young, and there was still an air of communal interaction about, is wonderful and comfortable home cooking. I’m always yearning for Mom’s lasagna and Grandma’s tomato basil soup. Whenever I remember those moments eating with my family, I can’t help but get teary-eyed. Those days are long gone, and so are the times eating out at a friend’s house, feeling awkward as their family gives you sometimes unfamiliar foods.
If you really think about it, eating is the most important aspect of life. Take away your house, and you can always find shelter. Take away your clothes, and will find someone to give you something to wear. But take away your food? No one can survive without food.
I believe that food is the basis for life and community. That’s why I’ve been practicing cooking lately, and with me is a lovely cookbook I found scurrying about the internet. It’s Eleanor Gaccetta’s Generations of Good Food, a wonderful collection of nearly 200 recipes she claims were all compiled from six generations of her family. Regardless, it is a terribly brilliant book that is easy to read and has lovely and delicious recipes (although I haven’t tasted them all).
I adore this book because its mission is similar to mine: that of creating a community. However, its scope is smaller with families, but the intention is the same: the gathering of people for a feast and socializing. Now, isn’t that a lovely thing to consider?
Expanding Community Through Food
Yesterday I finally knocked on my neighbors’ doors and asked if they wanted to come to my apartment for dinner this weekend. This is a big thing for an introvert like me, but I want to change–and change for the better. This might end in agony, or it could be a fruitful night, but I believe that with food, there will always be a conversation or two. And with a conversation, there is a possibility for a community.
The Happy Hammock 