What do we “do” food for? Ourselves? Survival? Sustenance?
One aspect of our Plate 1 lectures so far that has stood out to me is the overarching idea of food being presented in its more spiritual place in peoples lives. It’s ability to bond people in social situations, bring Whanau together, and ultimately give one another Aroha, the second aspect of our humanity in the documentary “Ser Un Ser Humano” (To be a Human Being) by Marina McCartney.
In my life, food has always just been “there”, but only recently have I come to appreciate how much we take for granted this essential element to life and why it’s there – because of love. And with love comes care and compassion for which we feel a need to “provide” for one another – family, friends and all loved ones.
Maria Madill’s lecture stood out to me as she bombarded us with some staggering statistics around food waste such as the 103,000 tonnes of produce wasted each year alone in NZ! To then hear how families and communities gain back their dignity and have valuable bonding experiences through the KiwiHarvest organisation was truly heart-warming.
All things considered, I think it’s important to be mindful of each other. We’re all different and all in different circumstances but food is a vessel which can always bring us together, promoting aroha through kai.
A traditional Maori Hangi
This is such a wholesome post. I enjoyed your positive outlook to what we have discussed thus far.
Over the past few weeks, I have also been reminded of how lucky we are and my gratitude for not only what I eat but who I eat with.
There is definitely a significant link between the effort put in to preparing food and providing whatever we can and how this reflects our love and care for one another. When this is a sense of belonging and missing in our lives, we can feel isolated and inadequate, negatively impacting our wellbeing. This reminds me of how mum would always nag me to make sure I ate enough food, and I never understood why until now.
You made an excellent point about how food can bring people together despite our differences as it is something that we all need. A Hangi is a great example of how food brings people together, are there any times you have been able to come together with people through food recently that have helped you appreciate this more