By Diana Wilkinson

Some people eat to live while others live to eat. It’s an expression I’ve heard hundreds of times, and reflects what I view as a flawed mentality surrounding food in current American culture. The act of eating should be more than to sustain life and less than an all consuming time-suck.

“Much of our present debate on the state of the contemporary food system….is grounded in two powerful American cultural values,” according to Trubeck. “First that talking and caring about food above and beyond its mere sustenance value are improper, and second, that every american deserves a chicken in his or her pot.”

Food simply isn’t as cherished here compared to other places. Caring about your food isn’t something we value. When I lived in Italy, the locals saw food is art, a source of community, and a sacred cultural tradition worth preserving.

Once I ate a slice of pizza while walking to the bus and people looked at me like I was walking backwards with my shoes tied together. I shudder to think what they would think if they knew about one of five meals is eaten in a car.

On the other hand, Americans do feel a strong sense of responsibility to ensure everyone has food, but how much good does that do if the food lacks nutritional value. Eating processed and unhealthy food may be better than nothing, but it may not make people feel good and lead to serious health problems down the road.

Maybe these two deeply entrenched cultural values are in part what lead to the pervasiveness of fast food in American society. The cheapness of fast food has made is so no one goes hungry–or at least it appears that way.
I do believe Americans are starting to become increasingly and unapologetically mindful of the food they consume. Hopefully, that will translate to those of every income and we can start to become a better fed nation.