The concept of Convivium (to unite, feast and celebrate around food) is radicated in every culture. The meal has always represented one of the vey few opportunities (at times the only) for a family, a group of friends or a community to socialize and interact. When and why did this concept get lost and what can we do to bring it back to its fundament status of an essential part of life?
The radical changes brought by the Industrial Revolution and modernization of agriculture-based societies have changed radically the lives of the people involved. The daily meals were the moment where food became the collant for a group. The preparation of the food was a well recognized and appreciated task and the consumption and appreciation of it was the finalization of the process. It was not just about the quality of the food, it was the whole experience that mattered. Every meal always has been a thankful moment, a moment of enjoyment for receiving an essential element for survival and therefore a positive moment. This process has been vulgarized and diminished by the new "requirements" of modern society. Eating has been relegated to one of the necessary tasks, like sleeping, and sharing a meal with your family, friends or community requires planning and can also be seen an inconvenience rather than a positive part of life.
The available abundance of food also plays a major role in this as well. Food always had a defined value in the past while now it's available even in gas stations, hardware stores and at very affordable prices. The value of food was, in rural societies, was in the aliments being mostly the fruit of hard work accomplished the family. Raising a cow or a pig, growing produce or just collecting eggs and cleaning after the hens needed work and attention. Eating an egg now just requires to purchase it at a grocery store. This contributes to create a feeling of detachment from the work related to produce food and therefore from food itself. The relation with the production of food takes us somewhere else but, what it is pertinent now is that it is a further step away from a direct relation with food and therefore from the social aspect of the convivial aspect of food.
Much attention is recently brought to the quality/quantity of food and to the good and bad foods. While these are very important topics, enough importance must be giving to the central social role of a meal. So is it better to eat an healthy and balanced meal on your own or, regardless of the food quality, give more importance to use a meal as a fundamental opportunity to create and maintain personal and social relations? The answer probably lies, as usual, somewhere in the middle but the convivial aspect keeps getting less relevance as calories and fat amounts keep being the center of the attention. Planning a good amount of time for a meal and putting passion in the preparation and the presentation of food could help re-balance the situation. It is virtually impossible to expect daily reunions around a table, given the way our lives are structured. Family nuclei break because of work or education commitments but it is not utopia to, for what we can, to try to re-establish the positive view of a meal as a convivial experience and understand the benefits of it.
