Food Is Love

My daughter has recently gone to Copenhagen for a semester abroad and it has been a very exciting experience for her. We talk almost every day via Skype and I realized how much of our conversation revolves around food. We touch base on classes, excursions, friends, rooming situation but we always go back to the food-what did you eat for supper, how was the café down the street, what’s Danish food like, do you like Danish food, did you go grocery shopping, what did you buy, what did it cost, what did you cook…I’m telling you the list could go on and on. And it’s every, single time we speak.

Here’s one of our Skype stories. Recently she decided to buy kidney beans in a bag and try to cook those. We told her to soak them overnight in water and then cook them for about an hour. So instead, she soaked them for 2 nights and showed us what thy looked like afterwards. They were the size of peanuts in there shell. We encouraged her to wash them quickly, heat them over and see how they tasted. They weren’t very good. They were still hard. And last time I talked to her she tried to eat them again but it wasn’t a pleasant experience.

Another story revolves around the bagel she bought down the street and all the yummy things she had on it – pesto, butter, chicken, tomatoes – and how good the sandwich was. Yes, this is our conversation. We ooh and aah over all the food stories.

Oh and then there’s the Danish meal she received courtesy of her tour group while traveling through Denmark, the famous Danish open sandwich. And the suppers she cooks with her friends. And the grocery shopping where she’s not quite sure what some of the food is or where to find a piece of chicken. And that fish. What IS it?

Anyway, you get the picture. The conversation is usually how was class, what did you eat today, how are your new friends, did you enjoy dinner, what did you explore today, what does your kitchen look like. I realized that every other comment was about food. And this was how we were nurturing her from aboard – by asking her if she is physically nurturing herself. Just by asking about her dinner I feel I am nurturing her.

As a board member of Gathering Change, it just made me realize how we equate food and eating with love and care. So what does a mother do when there’s not enough food? How does she feel and how does she nurture? The importance of supporting the food pantries who help these moms and families took on an even deeper meaning for me. If a family can get a few bags of groceries then they feel cared for. Children feel loved when they are feed well. Individuals feel they are important and part of a community when that community provides for them in ways they are having trouble providing for themselves.

I may be chuckling at the constant food banter I am having with my daughter but the importance of food is no laughing matter. I have realized how essential our food pantries are and how important our contributions to them can be. It’s made me feel an ever stronger impetus to collect food and spare change so that every mom and dad, every family, every individual who comes looking for some food can be serviced in a caring and competent manner. In all cultures food is love. Let us continue to work towards providing that care for all.

Marianne Snow