Lindsey Tayara: A Very Convenient Truth
You know, I’m pretty convinced that the downfall of “quality” and the uprising of “convenience” began when the first TV dinner was introduced and also when those two famous brothers introduced the drive-thru. But when did most Americans decide that going the extra mile is “so over”? When did we become a society based on convenience?
I understand that people are busy, but are we really THAT busy? Maybe not, maybe it’s because we have created these impossible standards on how much time and effort something should take. The more convenient some thing makes our life, the more likely it is to become the next “big thing”. But we are being misled, convenience is not a short cut but is a set back in so many ways especially with food.
I cook often, as in three times a day, but I am also, as well as co-owner of Our Local Catch and a co-founder Slow Food Pee Dee, a stay at home mom. I watch my oldest daughter play throughout the day and I take great pride in watching her play in her kitchen in particular. The way she stirs her invisible food simmering on her pretend stove top. The way she puts her oven mitts on before pulling her wooden cupcakes out of her oven. She’s learned that from me. The last thing I would ever want her to imitate would be opening boxes and ripping packages and putting it into the microwave! (Let me add that I would instill these same values in a son). There are many things I hope to instill in my daughters, but this a big one.
I’m creating a standard of living for her. A sense of what’s normal. She is going to be one less person that will not have to learn the hard way that food is not a thing of convenience but is an opportunity to create a loving memory. An event that will bring people together and will remind them that in this day of such personal detachment that we need each other.
Dinner time is drifting further away from being a cultural event and closer to a task that should be done quickly and cheaply. Skipping out on the easy convenient meal plan and choosing to cook something wholesome won’t only enhance your health, but your quality of life as well. We need to reconnect through food and we should start with dinner tonight.
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COMMENT QUESTIONS
• Do you prepare meals for your family?
• If you do, why is that important to you?
• If you don’t, what makes that difficult for you?
Category: CONTRIBUTORS, Opinion, Slow Food
About the Author
Lindsey Tayara is a mother of two girls and 3 hens and is originally from Bennettsville SC. She moved to Florence in the 90′s and met and married her husband, Bryan, many years later. Lindsey and her husband, through Our Local Catch, sell only local and sustainable seafood. She is also one of the founders and chair holders of Slow Food Pee Dee, our regional chapter of the international grass roots movement that promotes eating and supporting all things local.Thanks for reading PeeDeeFoodie.com™
