BENGALURU: In the culinary world, fast food ruled the world for decades. Even now, some of the largest commercial success in food are chains of fast food restaurants with their burgers, nuggets, fries and what not, all designed for convenience and a quick return to whatever else one was supposed to be doing, presumably more productively, than preparing and consuming food.
One could argue that it was one of capitalism’s biggest wins that it was able to convince people that time spent on food was actually time that could be saved, and that cooking was something that should be done as only special occurrences on occasion, or go to special fine dining places on exception when there was something extraordinary to mark or celebrate in one’s life.
Not only that, the constant communication of the single, working person as getting food quickly before rushing back to work, while fine dining was all about people in relationships, whether dating as a couple or group of adults, or eating out as a family, one can argue, also set food up as something that’s just a task if one was single, and only something to be enjoyed when with others.
As we often hear, food is a metaphor for love. Love is food for the soul, for example. Should love then be fast and easy like fast food places would like you to have it? Something that you just get done with at the quickest, so you can get back to your work? Or should you treat it like a fine dining visit – something you do once in a while, for special occasions, while on an everyday basis, it is a grab-and-go affair? Or, would you like to make something happen every day – and in that, would you quickly put together a meal from whatever’s there like a quick dal and rice, or would it be some slow food or things that need thought and preparation, like making idli batter for the week ahead, or making big batches of sourdough, salad dressings and other things, knowing you’ll have them through the week?
Do you make time and take mental space to think about how and what you’d have for food in your day? Do you similarly, make time and take mind space to be sure to love and feel loved in your day?
With the big rise of the fast food industry, the counter push of “slow food fast,” everyday pret and much else has also come to claim spaces and even demand that it is a lifestyle. Even more, there is much attention to how we need slower and more thoughtful food for not just our health but the world’s future. Medical professionals and others call for attention to how and what we eat, asking us to make the effort and to not treat hunger as just something to deal with efficiently.
Slow food and slow living is making its voice heard as what’s needed for our individual lives and the world’s future. Do we need love too to be similarly a more mindful, positive experience everyday?
(The author is a counsellor with InnerSight)