Why we are taking food so seriously

Some may wonder where this blog about food originated. As Janelle wrote in our "About" post, our endeavor is to "explore this crucial field of study." We both rediscovered food in a capstone course for seniors in the English Department at our university. We have that course to thank for the push in this direction, and that course's creator, Dr. Scott Pollard, for bringing out our own passions for food.
But why would Janelle use the term 'crucial'? Why is food such a 'serious' issue? Put simply, food is everywhere and it is everything. Without it, frankly, none of us would be alive. But more than that, its place in our culture is as inextricable from the human condition as our search for meaning. We view most things in our lives through a lens of food. Wasn't it a particular food that will always make you think of your beloved relative? Wasn't it the first time you made your own Thanksgiving dinner that made you realize that you had finally 'grown up'? Isn't making chicken noodle soup when you're sick only a habit because that's the food your mom made for you when you were a sick child?
Unfortunately, people have begun to lose sight of how much more important food is than a "necessary fuel whose only requirement is that it can be obtained and consumed without much difficulty or cost," as Mark Bittman writes in a recent New York Times article entitled "Why Take Food Seriously." When did 'cooking' suddenly become popping a frozen dinner into the microwave? What are we as a culture losing when we've lost our seriousness about food? Will we know how to make a Thanksgiving dinner when we've moved out on our own or what is the best homemade remedy when we have a cold? Will we be able to as easily remember our grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. when we no longer have a vivid detail like food to jog our memories?
Bittman says he is seeing signs of hope in the conversations people are having on food. And that's what our blog is really intended to do: generate, expand and inform those conversations we as a culture are and should be having about food.
Feel free to join us.