I say this not because I dislike eating around the table with my family, in fact I think it is a lovely concept and the majority of the time I love it. It is the only time that we, as a family, can sit and talk properly. However with our family, casual conversation often turns into huge controversial debates. Sometimes it gets to a point where we have eaten every last bit of food on our plates, the leftover gravy has gone stone cold and my brother has quietly left the table in an attempt to escape the debate. Nevertheless I thoroughly enjoy these types of discussions and I also enjoy eating with my family.
The most recent time we all sat together to eat we ended up discussing how culture varies from country to country and my mom explained how when she visited Nicaragua and Honduras she was offered meals from families who had next to nothing. Although the meals probably weren't the most nutritious and tasty, that food was all that the families had and so they had basically given up their entire week of food just to feed their guests. My mom and her colleagues couldn't refuse the food as it would have been fairly rude and so instead they gratefully ate the food and were offered more if they weren't yet full.
I added a point about something I had seen on the recent programme that a lot of people will have heard of, Benefit Street (If you are not familiar, it is a programme based on a street in Birmingham where a lot of the residents are on benefits). A man, Fungi, says that if he ever needs a meal he can knock on nearly anyone's door on the street and be welcomed in to have a meal with them or will give him food quite happily. So in both situations (in Honduras and on the street) people who probably don't have a great deal of food are happy to give it away to help other people.
I asked my stepdad and mom whether if someone came to the door, or if we knocked on a neighbours door asking for food would we/they welcome them in for a meal or give them food? Now the answer in some cases may be yes. Depending on whether we know the person or if your neighbours are very kind, but I know on many occasions we may turn people away, or just give them very little because we want the rest for ourselves. Compare this to the families in Honduras who gave everything they had!
A friend I know through church, Paul, told me about a similar experience (sorry I don't remember where), he and his friends were given a huge meal and after being absolutely full with food realised that the food they had been given was everything the family had. He then added that a friend of his asked him: "How many meals do you eat a week?" .... "how many of these are with company?" and "how many of these meals do you eat with people other than those you live with?"
My point is in this culture, in our westernised community, how often do we make the effort to share our meals with people?
How would you react to someone coming to your door asking for a meal? And how often do you eat with people other than those you live with?
Muchas gracias
Roxy x
