Beautiful Moments

Food is not necessarily fuel. It is nourishment; it is enjoyment; it is colors, smells, textures, and flavors. It is natural. It is sharing. It is culture. Beyond all of these, food is something that we NEED. Yes, we can want it, and in the Western culture it has something that we want rather than need because of its excessive abundance. But to live, to literally exist and sustain ourselves, we actually need to eat food. I think this is a concept that is under-rated and under-appreciated in my culture. We need first to come to terms with the overwhelming necessity of food for each person on this planet, before moving to the fun part--defining food in terms of what it means for ourselves.

One of the most amazing and inspiring moments that comes from food is the meal. The gathering to share the essential nourishment with others. Food is something that can cross all borders and break down all walls. Sitting down with others, eating a meal, does not require any shared background, interests, culture, or even language, but it it is a shared moment between human beings. Every culture can be defined in terms of their cuisine and moreover, it is the part of the culture that is most easily and readily shared with others, accepted by others, and understood by others.

There was a specific trip that I remember in Peru, I went as a translator with the importing company for a Canadian coffee roaster. I have visited various coffee farms in Latin America while working for a coffee importer. (More about this in greater detail later!) Every time we arrived, we would sit down for a meal with the farmers. To see the obvious poverty and to have a meal offered to me was something so generous and appreciative. On this particular trip, after we met the farmers and toured the farm, we sat down for a meal. Squeezed between a Peruvian coffee farmer, a Canadian roaster, across from a Peruvian friend of mine who I worked with in Lima. Through the bites of soup with a chicken that could have only been killed that morning, and rapid translation of the conversations in Spanish and English, I thought to myself, Wow!, here I am, a young intern from America, sharing a meal with people coming from completely different places. Though I wanted to, I could not completely understand the lives of the farmers in that moment, nor could they understand my life, but there we all were, sitting together, sharing a meal, and it all made sense.

Food is a beautiful moment.