Page 111 - Southern Oregon Magazine Winter 2019

The food traditions of virtually

every society bring people together
Every Sense is Delighted
to celebrate, to mourn, and to honor.

Weddings, births, deaths, celebrations

of life, significant calendar days, days

of religious importance, a stranger

shows up, you haven’t seen a person

in a long time, before a journey, after

a journey, a going away party, a

welcome dinner, the proverbial pie to

the new neighbor—all human events

where we eat together.

Eating alone is an interesting modern phenomenon that takes on many
different shapes. We might literally be eating alone, we might be going
to a drive through to save time, or we might be eating distracted, with
phones or TVs there to keep us from the seemingly difficult work
of interpersonal communication. I would suggest that eating while
focused on something other than the people with whom you are eating
is essentially eating alone. When we eat alone, it’s this fundamental
interpersonal food connection that breaks. Something that we have
used for eons as a connection point with others, no longer serves that
social function.

Unless it’s the weekend, most of us have breakfast alone. Modern
life just doesn’t seem to offer us much more than a “do-it-yourself”
approach to the morning meal. Lunch is maybe worse. Most people
are trying to fit something in during a workday, and a surprisingly large
number of Americans don’t even consistently eat either of these meals.
The number of drive-through meals for breakfast and lunch is also
alarming. Every Bite is Perfection

Dinners are our last chance to eat together on a regular basis, but if
you’re watching TV while you eat dinner, you’re basically eating alone. LUNCH 11:30am - 2:00pm (MON. - FRI.)
While it is true that some families manage to get together for a dinner DINNER 5:00 - 9:00pm (MON. - THUR.)
without phones and TVs, it’s less the norm, and more a myth straight DINNER 5:00 - 9:30pm (FRI AND SAT.)
out of a Norman Rockwell painting. We’ve managed to hold onto some DINNER 5:00 - 8:30pm (SUN.)
of our traditional feast days, like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter,
but even those are beginning to break—according to the article in 970 N. PHOENIX ROAD, MEDFORD, OR
Scientific American. WWW.TIGERROLL.COM • 541-608-7545

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