In many schools, a bank of vending machines is the main attraction, and kids fill up on Cokes and snack foods. If there is a cafeteria, what it offers usually fails to meet the minimum guidelines for nutrition developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And this may be the only shared mealtime that some students will have. But in many cultures, adults take time to overcome these fears in their children by introducing them to a varied, changing diet. They do this mostly by sharing meals meals that have meaning, because they are actually cooked and served by the adults who take primary care of their children, and because they are prepared from ripe, seasonal food.
Children go with their parents to the markets, and they grow up knowing how to feed themselves.
I think that when people grew things in their backyards and out on the farm, and then put that produce on the table, that people couldn t help gathering round. I believe that people always want to sit down if there s good food on the table. The last time I was in France with my family, we were fed by a young Frenchwoman. Chantal lives by herself, in a tiny modest apartment in Beaune. But she didn t hesitate to invite us all to dinner at her house.