Food is our fuel, our energy. It should be central in our lives as it is among other things, what keeps us alive. Yet we move through our days, eating a meal as if checking a box on a long list of things to do. As humankind has evolved and the accessibility of food has dramatically increased, the value we place on food and the way we treasure it as a society has changed. As Pollan mentioned in his article “In Defense of Food” family dinners and meals have decreased, as people seem to have their own agenda for dinner. Meals use to bring people together, forcing families to slow down and appreciate their food with each other. As humans we have the opportunity to experience food in its flavor, aroma, the way it feels in our mouths, how it looks and even what it sounds like when we take a bite. Cooking and eating are opportunities to use our vast brain space and senses to experience the richness and complexities in our food.

We must try to return to a time when food was important and central in our lives and strengthen the value of food. To take it a step further, we must strengthen the professions within the food system such as farming, food preparation and cooking. In Education in America, a course I took last semester we discussed how in order strengthen our education system as a whole we must strengthen the teaching profession. Similarly, I see this as a solution to one of many pieces of our modern food system. If we begin to treat citizens working in our food system with respect by paying them truly livable wages, there will be a ripple effect in the food chain. By paying more for our food and food services our relationship and appreciation for food will strengthen. “Roughly 3.5 million fast food workers are by far the largest group of minimum wage earners in the United States. The only Americans who consistently earn a lower hourly wage are migrant farm workers” (Schlosser, 6). If we remember that these food workers and farmers are real people who need to make a living, it might help inform our decisions in the grocery store, and veer us away from picking groceries based on a price tag, if we can afford it. It will help us escape the bewilderment we often experience in the supermarket.

Similarly to the symbiotic relationship between bees and beekeepers that McKibben spoke of, we must help those working in our food systems by paying them more, and in turn they will continue to grow, produce and prepare food for us. Schlosser tells us that fast food has become a social American custom. Let’s change that story and change the story of the workers behind the fast food systems in America. We must be willing to invest in our food systems and the lives of our fellow citizens who work so hard to create the food that fuels us.