The need for cooking

The need for cooking

In class this week we discussed the need for our chosen activity although the need for cooking/eating is very much a human need for nutrients and energy, the need goes beyond this for me. A quote that describes how I feel about what we get from cooking is that of Visser (1991) who said “We turn the consumption of food, a biological necessity, into a carefully cultured phenomenon. We use eating as a medium for social relationships: satisfaction of the most individual of needs becomes the means of creating community.” For me the need for cooking mainly comes under two categories:

·         The need for nutrients and survival

·         The need for social interaction and spirituality.

As all humans need food to survive one of the reasons I eat it to be able to survive and have the energy to carry out daily activities. Not only do we need to eat, but we need to eat the things which will enable our bodies to work at a good standard. The main meal I cook is at dinner where I try to include a variety of veggies and make it as flavoursome as possible. Always making sure I have a meal with lot of vegetables is not the easiest of tasks, being a student I don’t often have the money to eat the things I’d like to which can be very frustrating.

Not only do I need food for my health I feel it has almost become a need for social interaction and connection with people. In my earlier posts I have talked about the personal significance cooking has to me and this activity has really solidified those feelings. Cooking and what it affords definitely reflects values held by my family and the person I see myself being.

Reference

Visser, M. (1991).The Rituals of Dinner. New York: Grove Wiedenfield.