Eat it.

Food is quite possibly the single most important thing on our planet. People often use the expression, "I thrive on..." but the only real fill-in-the-blank for that is food. No one really thinks about it, most of us just take the privilege for granted. Sure we think, "oh there are starving people in the world," but if you are not one of those people, how can you judge what it is like? Much less judge the true value of food?

Now food impresses me because there are so many variations of it not to mention an array of qualities. Take fast food, the staple of a appetizing to me. Huge theme parks produce food by the masses for the masses. That food is not stereotypical American, for example. The fast food chains are not focused on quality so much as quantity. Many even sell 'meat' that is labeled Grade E (for edible.) That does not sound too made with love. If you have every questioned why your mom's delicious quiche tastes better than a turkey leg from Six Flags, now you know. It is the love. The quality and taste of our food is such an imperative aspect to ones life because we have the ability to choose the food that we consume while some people have no food at all.

I come from and Italian family, therefore one of my families highest values is food. For the smallest get together of ten food is made for in the kitchen all day preparing the meal while fathers and sons do what they can to help. Not only is food a cultural statement but it readily brings a single family or multiple families together through the shared value. Different cultures prepare meals that have passed through tradition and ritual throughout years and this is a concept that supports the presence of individuality. Just think of your favorite homemade meal. Mine is probably my mom's homemade lasagna. She does not make it often but when she does the occasion is special and the whole family sits down for the meal. With busy schedules, families do not always get to spend much time together, but through the making of a home cooked meal, usually all family members take advantage of the opportunity and sit down together. The preparation and consuming of food is something that easily creates unity in a community.

Different people use different ways of expressing their values and traditions through the preparation of food. Quality and partiality to certain foods is a driving quality in individual consummation of pabulum. No matter what the circumstance, food is one of the highest values of all living things and the acquisition of that food remains an imperative aspect of life.

Green Peace (rhyming word: Kenna)

Work Cited:
All American Festivals. Food Network. Phoenix June 2008.