HW 11 - FINAL FOOD PROJECT 1

Chosen Modality: Experiential

       The sharing of food, stories, and laughs at the thin glass dinner table set perpendicular to the wall is essentially second nature to my body, purely reacting to my expectations.  In my family, dinner time is like no other time, constituting its own sacred ritual where everyone eats and converses together.  The dinner table represents the connection between all those who are eating, as each person is present at one of the table's edges and is within arms reach of another person.  The literal feeling of the warmth shared between me, the food, and my family leaves my muscles less tense for the day.  The absence of this feeling and connection may leave me wandering like a confused foreigner in the streets of Time Square.  However, curiosity had struck me and the urge to find out whether I had enough will power to sit alone and eat, was stronger than the urge to do otherwise.  To separate myself from this comforting familiarity of gathering to eat, I ate dinner alone, secluded in my beige-colored room with the wooden door shut, for two days.  

       Before beginning this mere journey, my mother consented favorably while my sister choked on her snack and then proceeded to laugh at the supposed stupidity of my idea but, her lack of concern didn't heed my original incentives.  As I quietly shut the door to my room, creating the barrier between me and my family, I couldn't help but feel unusual and odd, as all the doors in my household are always open no matter the occasion.  Proceeding to sit on my cushioned chair, I placed the moderately big plate of food on my desk and worried that my neat desk would probably end up with food oil nevertheless, I began to eat with chopsticks.  These small movements and thoughts had taught me the value that I entrust into certain objects such as my work table and dinner table.  I began to question: Why do I exude such indifference toward sauce on the dinner table when I give the upmost concern about oil marks on my work table?  The change in location of where I would be eating made me realize how in the absence of my familiar dinner table and my family influences the way I react towards the same event. 

       In addition to a change in location, the silence that filled my room as I ate overwhelmed me as the only loudest things I could hear were the sounds of my gnawing on food.  The subtle sounds of my family talking only traveled slightly through the slits of the closed doors and there I was, close in literal terms but, distant mentally.  I only needed to walk a few paces to join the conversation but, of course, that would prohibit what I desired to obtain from this experience.  Hearing big hearty laughs, I wanted laugh and talk and, I could have probably played the role my own company but, I worried my sister would laugh me and I wouldn't be present to defend myself.  It was bizarre being alone during dinner time and led me to realize being a part of a task done together was important to me and so I had learned that the company of others plays a role in the enjoyment of my dinner.  If I were to change one thing about my experiment, I would have completely isolated myself from the subtle chatter of my family because there is a chance that this change could have had a influenced the path of my inquiry and so, I wouldn't have have thought about what my family might've been laughing about.

       In carrying out this fruitful experience, I had learned that gathering as a family and eating as one matters and serves a purpose to me not only as enjoyment but, as a necessity.  Without permitting me to do so, I'm left alone to experience food, filled with flavors I am unable to share.  In Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma, we learn we are accustomed to what our society portrays as normal therefore we rarely question the normal and stray away from this path.  We are bound to our morals and values therefore we base our decisions on them.  As all humans are burdened with the the omnivore's dilemma, they cannot help their inquiry of foods and the influence of society.  Eating together as a family is a ongoing social practice in this society and so, to deviate from such practice would be "weird."
       In my short two day experience, I had come to comprehend my values on a different perspective, realizing my decisions and desires not only rely on my opinion, morals, and values but, that of society's and its social practices.  From Pollan's book, we can relate because as we are omnivores, we are given the ability to eat almost anything but, also the ability to reason what is right and wrong, whether slaughtering an animal is unjust.  We can watch the line between what is normal and weird with a certain prudence but, we will never be able truly define such vague words.