Andy Catlett’s memory of his grandmother’s cooking truly struck me. I was enthralled by the sensory experience he was able to capture: the sights and smells of the food, the sound of his grandmother murmuring to herself, and the expert touch of her hands on the pie crust. Catlett remarks on the fresh sausage on the table, available because it was soon after “hog-killing time.” He knows that the pie will be made with blackberries picked straight from the nearby woods.

My food memories are completely different than this one. When I was younger, food was not as important a part of my life as it is now. Now I love to cook, experiment with new recipes and ingredients, go to farmers markets, and learn about food systems. When I was younger, food just seemed like another routine and my palate was extremely limited. My favorite food was Annie’s white cheddar Mac n’ Cheese shells. The only vegetables I would eat were carrots. The texture of fruit freaked me out. I really liked white bread with Skippy peanut butter (no jelly) with the crusts cut off. (Just an interesting side note: Microsoft word recognizes the word “Skippy,” showing just how engrained in our lives major US food brands have become.) I have so many memories of sitting at my kitchen table waiting for my dad to ask my what I wanted for breakfast. Every day I would say the same thing: “a peanut butter sandwich please!” And my dad knew all of my special requirements. Annie’s Mac is still my comfort food—if I am feeling sad, stressed, or lonely, Annie’s Mac reminds me of home and safety.

Maybe I would have thought about food differently if I had been raised on a farm. My cousin is a farmer. He lives in a one-room house, does not have television or Internet, and doesn’t believe in using a lot of machinery for his farming. He makes the most delicious maple syrup I have ever tasted, and the steaks he brought us last time he visited were so flavorful. He eats what he grows every single day. He’s about to have a baby, and I’m sure that baby will grow up with food memories that are entirely different from my own. (He’s actually a little bit condescending towards my family, living our fast-paced New York City lives. He believes that we should all live off the land and not care about going to fancy colleges or making money. I don’t agree with this prescription, but I do admire how hard he works.)

Whether your food memories are of homemade cooking from ingredients grown on your own farm, or of crustless peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, they are significant. Food brings people together. Family meals are so important, no matter what is on the table. Eating at a dinner table is a time to relax and take a break from hectic every day life; a time to enjoy the company of family and friends and talk to each other. Making time for sit-down meals is something I want to work on in my life. Our food system makes it so easy to purchase quick, packaged food and eat while on the go from one thing to the next. Although it often takes a lot of time to seek out fresh foods (for example fresh meat from the farmers market), I think that taking a pause in the day to cook with any ingredients you can find is important. I want to try to slow down and take the time to enjoy one of the greatest pleasures in life—food.