"We forget that, historically, people have eaten for a great many other reasons than biological necessity. Food is also about pleasure, about community, about family and spirituality, about our relationship to the natural world, and about expressing our identity. As long as people have been taking meals together, eating has been as much about culture as it has been about biology."
This is such an interesting quote to me. For such a long time on the WW site you would see so much discussion of how to avoid eating all the great food at various gatherings and events. Just an ongoing topic that would revive at every major holiday, and any life event points etc. So, trying to get in line with the above quote makes for some interesting thinking - at least in my books.
The couple of catches here are that often the food at the gatherings under considerations are not real foods but again as Pollan phrases it "foodlike substances". So, those would be wise for us to avoid. But what about when those are the main things there and few other real foods are available. What then of our opportunity to engage in food for pleasure and community etc? This is actually what makes it really hard in my mind.
Then there is the nature of the food like substances and how they (at least in my own experience) tend to leave a body and mind unsatisfied leading to the consumption of larger quantities to find that elusive satisfaction, that elusive pleasure. Then too, many of those foods are loaded up with all kinds of "taste" junk (sweeteners, artificial flavours etc), so while they may seem somewhat pleasurable to eat, the satisfaction likely still isn't there. Along with that lack of satisfaction my own finding is that many of them also act as triggers, because they don't stimulate true satisfaction they trigger our body and mind into wanting more, more of them or more of something, that gap is still not filled.
The question is can I sit to eat for pleasure and community etc and truly enjoy myself with that if there are real foods in front of me? I think that yes is the answer here. In particular I wonder if for someone like me for example the real missing element of satisfaction is that there isn't enough of the non biological reasons in my choices. Maybe counter to the whole "only eat if you are hungry" mindset is that it leaves our minds, souls, and ultimately our body hungering for more - so maybe it should be "eat for your body and spirit". I think I will have to think on this a bit, because this also brings up the whole emotional eating thing to my mind and I want to dwell on that a bit and see how I feel it fits into things in my mind.
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