I don’t recommend Ted Talks often, or often write about diet on Christian blogs. But this presentation by a secular nutritionist seems to approach the borders of Eucharistic Theology.
I am not posting this for her recommendations of eating more plants. I am posting it for her acknowledgment of the social and personal significance of eating food. I recommend especially the beginning and the end of this video.
Her talk made me think…
The secularization (apostasy) of Western Civilization has been going on for centuries now. But how long ago did the empty vestiges, like “saying grace” before meals, actually disappear from our society? It would be interesting, if the data can be collected, to see how the growth in disordered eating, whether restricting or binge-eating, corresponds to the decline of meal rituals like prayer, or even the existence of the family meal itself.
Could it be that the Apostle Paul’s command for us to “wait for one another” is not only required for the Lord’s Supper in order to avert sickness and death, but is also wisdom for all our meals for our better health, both mental and bodily, as well as cultural?