ILF

I love food and I love eating. I feel like most people do. However, I think my relationship with food is different than others. It seems like there’s a cultural thing going on that says loving food means eating a lot of it. People are obsessed with all you can eat, with giant portions, and eating massive amounts of food in general. Some people love the challenge aspect of it. For others it’s a bang-for-your-buck kinda thing. Personally I prefer just to eat good tasting food until im satisfied.

There also seem to be an implication that eating tons of food equates to “manliness” or strength. To me it’s just wasteful, here’s my two main why’s:

Economics: I may get a lot of flak for this especially among my friends, but I will use Korean Barbeque as an example, which hurts cause I do love KBBQ. I can spend $16+ at a KBBQ place and eat as much as my body will allow, or I can spend $10-12 somewhere else and eat to a comfortable level. Sure $4 can get me a shit-ton more food, but I don’t need that excess to be happy and healthy. In fact, me consuming that excess pushes me away from happiness and healthiness post-meal.

Environmental: We waste a lot of food. Last year $218 billion worth of food went to waste last year. Think about how many resources went into producing that; water, land, energy, etc. I’m not naive enough to think though that me opting for reasonably portioned food is going to solve our food waste problem. There needs to be a culture shift, but that begins with educating ourselves and owning up to facts.

I’m not trying to shame anyone through this post or to sound self-righteous, I’ve just gotten tired of eating to the point where I’m uncomfortable to fulfill some arbitrary culture standard. This is not meant to get anyone to change habits or diets, this is about my own relationship with food. Though I do hope this makes you at least think about your relationship with food. Whether your make a change is up to you, but I do think anytime people can align their own happiness and health with that of the planet, that’s a step towards a better future.