NUTRITION
COMFORT, COMMUNITY AND LOVE
The Importance of Feasting
NUTRITION
most common invitation
for a social gathering and
ideal meeting ground for
almost any get-together,
no matter the person or
place. Do you want to go
for coffee? Can I take you
to dinner? Would you like
to go back to my place
for a drink?
Weddings, Christmas parties and even funerals
can bring out our best
when it comes to feasting. In times of celebration, happiness and even
grieving and loss, we can
always count on food to
be there for us.
American Feasting
E
ating is one of the most basic forms of human connection and bonding. Food and feasting create a valuable form of social integration and an opportunity for people to come
together, perhaps, even those who normally would not. The offering of food and hosting
events focused around a feast can be used as a means to bring strangers and family together.
Feasting can strengthen communities, turn foes to friends and create a positive space
for peace and giving thanks. Offering food to others just might be considered one of the
greatest forms of showing love and appreciation.
Feasting Brings Comfort
As a nutritionist and foodie, I often think of food as the pinnacle of parties and focal point
when it comes to bringing people together. You can bet that the usual meeting spot or
unspoken designated area for any celebration or party is almost always the kitchen. The
kitchen, a common gathering ground for social activity, draws us in with its familiar comfort
of warming food and drink.
Take away feasting at these times of special celebrations, and I really question how much
effort people would make to get together. Think about it. Food and drink are really likely the
I recently experienced my
first ever (in fact I had two
in one day!) American
Thanksgiving feast, in the
state of sunny California.
All that I had heard about
the celebration of this holiday in America was true.
Americans take pride in
their food and do not
mess around in the kitchen when it comes to the
holidays. Feasting is their
forte.
I was told this Thanksgiving feast would be an
all day event filled with
good company, delicious homemade food
and even games, postdessert. They weren’t lying. It was as if they were
actually trying to mimic
the original Thanksgiving
as celebrated by the Pilgrims, a feast that once
lasted three days.
Feasting For Community
Like the purpose of most
feasts and social gatherings focused around
food, what I noticed most
about this celebration,
was the emphasis of community, hospitality, the importance of friends and
family. The integration of
not just family but strangers. These people didn’t
know me from a person
on the street, but they
welcomed me into their
home to participate and
take joy in the feasting
festivities. My first American Thanksgiving experience solicited the same
feelings I felt when I used
to work in a community
health center. At each
holiday we would host a
free open house feast to
feed the homeless.
Feasting For Love
There was so much love
and sense of community
in this one room I couldn’t
help but to feel connected to even these strangers
that I barely knew. What
an amazing experience it
was to see people from all
walks of life, races, sexual
orientations, genders and
religions join together to
enjoy this feasting of food.
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