Today we have reached an era of food consumption which is defined by its individuality, and its efficiency. With this comes an unrelenting pace of change.
The shared meal, that most holy of ideals now lies profane, sacrificed upon an altar of egoistic efficiency. The coming together of people for body and blood of christ once a feast is now a farce, packaged by a secular company. Where once the tribe gathered, forming the us and splitting apart the them, there is now only the Randian hero stoically eating alone.
The efficient individual is the defining character of our age. Food has come to a point where no longer do you have to harvest food, food in a moment can be at your door. What does this mean for our identities and our communities. The historic base of human society and cooperation centres on food. We join together to survive, to harvest food and then to eat it. To live was to cooperate. Now our food production has seemingly severed this tether. We no longer see how our food is made, the time taken for it to reach our hands, instead, we feel, free.
The promotion of a reckless freedom that ignores the scale of production needed in order for to consume is dangerous. The brightness of individuality blinds us from seeing that it takes a community to create food. The hidden cost here is the exploitation of peoples and the planet. We are so alienated we have forgotten the root of food itself, the community.
Well put. I definitely agree with you that way we consume food today often creates a culture of convenience and efficiency instead of one that actually appreciates food itself and where it comes from. I also think the way you touched on this idea of a “promotion of a reckless freedom” is really important as often I find we aren’t consciously aware of our individualistic tendencies or “freedom” regarding food and the ethical or moral implications of its origin. Rather it’s the way our society prioritieses production and efficiency over the building of community or a sense of connection between us and the food we eat. Especially when considering religion and history, its really interesting to see how our ideals surrounding food have changed over time and how industrialisation and the commodification of food have perhaps affected this.
While I agree with the general gist of the blog – that the sharing of food, a crucial part of a civilized society, is on the decline – I would have probably put it a little more gently. I feel the issue is perhaps a little over-stated in the blog: I appreciate the strength of feeling, but I wouldn’t go so far as to refer to commensality with quite such elevated religious terminology (although I do recognize that food is integral to religion, especially the transubstantiation in the Roman Catholic church to which you refer). In essence, I agree that it is unfortunate that our obsession with productivity and efficiency is increasingly phasing out the hour or so of coming together in the evening that is so important for the development of the person in terms of learning to converse and discuss, to practice etiquette and good manners, and to secure their own intellectual and emotional security. But, on a busy day, I think I’d allow myself a takeaway kebab without feeling like I’d defecated on the foundations of civilization.