Food is more than just fuel for our bodies. It’s an essential ingredient in the recipe of a meaningful and enriched human experience. Beyond its nutritional value, food plays a major role in our ability to connect, explore, and find comfort.
Throughout our lives, we as humans experience a variety of emotions. Whether they are comfortable emotions such as feeling powerful, inspired, happy, or heavier emotions such as feeling insecure, overwhelmed, or disappointed, food can be a powerful way to find connection throughout it all.
I want you to think about the happiest day of your life. Was it a celebration of a personal achievement? A wedding day? A notable day exploring a new city? How did you celebrate? While answering these questions, it is very likely that food was a memorable part of your experience. Whether it is because of the emotional connection, sensory experience, or cultural significance, food is a major aspect of a holistic approach to our daily lives.
During times of hardship, it’s also common for food to be served as a way to find connection during burdensome times. Funerals, job loss, breakups, and hard days are all examples of moments where food is used as a token of encouragement, love, and unity. We use food as a way to honor, support, celebrate, and empathize with others during all phases of life.
If we limit our food intake, what are we actually limiting when looking at the bigger picture? Our ability to adventure, show up for others, find community, and regulate the large scale of human emotions. Food elevates the human experience. By limiting food, we put limits on our ability to live freely.
I challenge you to think about how you can use food as a tool to enrich your human experience.