Across cultures and time, food sharing is an almost universal medium for expressing fellowship; it embodies values of hospitality, duty, gratitude, sacrifice and compassion. The shared meal is an opportunity not only to eat but also to talk, to create and strengthen bonds of attachment and friendship, to teach and learn. Not surprisingly, the family meal is often celebrated as a supremely important component of family life.
According to Alice Julier, Associate Professor of Food Studies at Chatham University, in her book Eating Together, eating dining together can radically shift people’s perspectives: reduces people’s perceptions of inequality, and tend to view those of different races, genders, and socioeconomic backgrounds as more equal than they would in other social scenarios.
A dinner table which is usually situated in the kitchen in modern homes is an important place for the socialization of children. The family meal is a prime setting for their introduction to the rules…
Read More…..Leadership Newspaper
