Food for thought

In eight days I am taking part in a discussion (at the Battle of Ideas in London) called 'Food & identity: are we what we eat?’ I have now been sent some of the questions we are going to address. They include:

What do our food choices say about us, if anything? Are we defined by what we eat – morally, ethically, culturally, physically? Do we treat food (and other) consumption as a personal/political statement? Are today’s food debates more central to society than they were perhaps in the past? If so, how and why? What’s changed, if anything, in society that means food has such an importance today beyond merely providing us with essential nutrition? What does the future of food look like?

Full details of the session HERE. Any thoughts?

Comments

[Lyn]

For me, food is relatively boring and I like something that is quick and easy without too much clearing up afterwards.

Food needs to taste pleasant and, being a depressive, usually needs to be something that will benefit my mood. For this reason I do have chocolate cravings and as I have enough other things to concern me, such as the smoking ban and its detremental effects on my mental health, then I do not tend to have the energy or will power to resist these cravings.

Since the smoking ban, I have put on 3 stone in weight and am having great difficulty losing any. I actually eat very little, but probably what I do eat is the wrong type of food, but it is what helps me mentally.

I realise this debate is about food, but as with food, smoking is something that we ingest, so the 2 very often go hand in hand.

I also drink very little, although I do tend to drink more since the smoking ban came in. I go out very rarely, but if I do, because I can't smoke I drink more, a lot more! At home I now keep small bottles of wine and this means that I can have a drink whenever I want to at home. That is still not very often, but is more often than I did before the smoking ban.

The government are now attacking drinking and obesity - 2 problems I now have, that I did not prior to this draconian and uncessary law!

Don't know if this is the sort of thing you want Simon, but for what it is worth, it is my input.