I don’t know what I should be talking about, but I do know what I love and that’s food. Why I love food really starts as a mystery. Is it because of the sleeves of ice cream cups I used to sneak after school? Is it the boxes of pop-tarts and milk during middle school that made me feel more comfortable than anything else? Is it the chicken patties in high school that we used to drench in mayo and pickles from one of my favorite people I’ve ever met Patti? Is it the half boxes of cocoa pebbles I used to eat after working at one of the hardest restaurants in the world? Is it the sandwiches from Rossi’s I would eat while I was on my own for the first time? Was it my first taste of Waffle House in South Carolina? Or first taste of real barbeque? The first pizza I ever made? The first time I cooked beans properly?
As you can see through my evolution of these questions I have grown up a little bit. But, there’s a common denominator involved with all these questions. There’s people connected to each of these stories. There’s no food without the people behind it. That’s from the human who engineered plastic containers for ice cream cups. (Deserves a medal) To the lunch lady who became one of my closest friends during high school, she knew that food no matter how basic it is can always make people smile. To the cocoa pebble production line, the list goes on.
People make up our world, and our stories, and our livelihoods. All races, genders, orientations, make up everything we do. We don’t pick where we get to be born, what social class, what grocery store we get to go to. Why do we treat others differently because of the randomness with which they we’re born into. People become who they become because of where they started. We ALL need to realize this.
How do we start again? I think it starts with respect and nostalgia. Remember the things that make you happiest and remember why they were there. Remember the privileges you have and had that others don’t. Respect the people who didn’t have your same advantages. Thinking about Nostalgia can evoke sadness or happiness, I think that’s what makes it so unique. That uniqueness can show us that we are fragile. And we need support. We need to be there for each other. And let’s talk about what’s bothering us.
My point is, I don’t think the ratio of fat in a burger is as important as it once was to me. I think that the world has made us all realize how fragile life is. How we should cherish interactions with old friends, how we should be grateful for everything that is given to us, and how much better we could be doing. We can all be better.
During these times on my blog and website as I figure out what I need to do in my career, I really want to have other people contribute and bring different perspectives to current events and food and how it all impacts us. Feel free to message me on facebook if you have something to talk about or email me or call me or text me. Something. Let’s talk about this. Let’s be on the same page. Let’s not be angry for no reason. Let’s get together, talk about what we can do to make this world a better place through food. Through our stories with one another and through our love for one another. Yes my life surrounds why a parsley leaf might look better cut as a triangle or a circle, but we all meet people and have stories that change us. Let’s talk about them. Give me something. Give me stories about why you’re in food, who got you there, and what we can do to make this world better.
Tim Buell
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