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Food Addict
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In just a few short days, this semester will end and a marvellous and welcome winter break will take its place. And along with the semester, this little column will also disappear into thin, Boise State air.
Doesn’t it seem like I just got here? Food Addict had a short run, but a strong one.
I wrote about food despite the fact that I couldn’t cook and didn’t even have a vast knowledge of it.
I wrote about food because I liked it. It tastes good and keeps me alive, so why not pay tribute to it?
Alas, I never used to look at food in such a positive light.
I went through a phase not too long ago when the idea of eating sickened me.
Blame it on the airbrushed models in magazines or the allure of the 500 different diets today, but having a relationship with food used to terrify me.
But, like any life phase, that one eventually passed and I no longer look at food with fear.
Food wants our friendship. It’s what we do with it that makes us resent it.
If we abuse it, consume too much or lack variety, then it seems to work some wicked spell on us. That’s when the weight sticks, the acne appears and the self esteem goes down.
And if we try to ignore it, like I did, different plagues arrive in the form of emptiness, dissatisfaction and again, low self esteem. We need food, not just to survive, but because it makes us feel good. It gives the soul a warm little glow and a feeling of completion.
I do not consider myself a food addict because I’m the chubby girl, constantly opening candy bars in the back of the classroom or because I am one of those super-skinny girls who eat enough to be human garbage disposals.
Rather, I call myself a food addict because I am addicted to food as a life source. It fills, both literally and figuratively. I’ve bonded with many people while breaking bread and I’ve experienced some of my happiest moments in the presence of food.
In the past year I made three friends, got to know a former employer, ate raw eel and caught a piece a shrimp in my mouth. Some of that could have happened without the food, but I believe it helped immensely.
I am a food addict because I love what comes with it. I like the magic it works on typically cold-hearted people like me.
Oh yeah and most of the time, it doesn’t taste too bad either.
Unless it comes from a vending machine.
This holiday season, I encourage you to attend those drawn-out family dinners with an open mind. Yes, they’re tiring and most of the time some stupid fight breaks out, but those people mean well.Sometimes they can’t express it in an understandable way.
In fact, you can give one of them the magic bullet. Who knows? Maybe it really works and they’ll love it.
Volunteer at a soup kitchen. Give someone food who doesn’t have many options.
Bake cookies.
Homemade food always tastes better. Plus, you can feel like A-list Food Celebrity Rachael Ray for a whole half an hour.
Give the gift of food.
FRANCY MARCOTTE
Culture Editor