Rainbows & Hope: One Plate of Food at a Time
Rainbows & Hope One plate of food at a time. The story of Tripping Vittles is my story but also the story of food and the people who eat it, cook it and love it. How we can find hope for a better tomorrow in what we eat today.
Food is the great uniter. It ties us together, everyone on the planet needs it to survive. Some of us like me find inspiration and love in food. We find commonality with our fellow-man in food. We want everyone to have a seat at the table. I believe with all my heart if we shared more meals together we would understand each other with respect and love. Instead we have apprehension and fear because of our differences. We see fear in everything from the color of our skin to the language we talk to the amount of money we make to the region or country we are from. Those fears are ingrained in us without even realizing it and we have great apprehension in crossing a bridge of differences to see what is on the other side.
What do we have in common
Every single one of us has commonality with everyone else over food without even realizing it. #tacotuesday has over 2 million items under the hashtag on Instagram. #chinesefood nearing 4 million #dumplings over 1 million #Russianfood almost 200K #russiancaviar almost 5000. We are unified over food and our love of it and we don’t even think about it we just eat.
How many people do you suppose are screaming for a wall to be built between the US and Mexico but will down a margarita and a taco without thinking twice. We seem to love and respect the food from other nations yet we have lost civility when talking or dealing with nations,religions and people different from ours. I want to change that. We have to change that.
Listening to an inspiring man and seeing the Rainbow
A few nights ago a man I admire greatly José Andres won a James Beard Award(the Oscars of food) for his Humanitarian work. His speech is how I came to write this blog entry. He is inspiring and thought-provoking and he made me think more about what I want to do and be with Tripping Vittles. In his speech he said “We can improve the world one plate of food at a time”. I have no doubt this is true. You can watch why he won this award here..Jose Andres Humanitarian
Jose and his words were running thru my head already and then this happened. One of the kids I wait on regularly on kid’s night drew me a picture of a rainbow. We as adults forget that life really can be as simple as rainbows. We have a responsibility as adults to make sure everyone has a seat at the table. I found that message in Jose Andres speech but also in Mackenzie and her drawing of a rainbow.
Rainbows & Hope One Plate of Food at a Time
I would like to introduce you to Jean Anthem Brillat-Savarin he lived in the late 1700’s to the early 1800’s. He was a Lawyer(groan) and a Politician(yuck) but he was also a Gastronomic Epicurean(yippy) Brillat-Savarin wrote many things from all walks of his life yet the book most often quoted is Physiologie du gout(The Physiology of Taste)
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You have probably heard his quotes and not even known it. “tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are” is a Brillat-Savarin quote. “Dessert with out Cheese is like a beauty with one eye” many variations on this but they stem from his original quote.
His quotes are a great leaping off point to the future as Tripping Vittles travels thru this thing we call life. I want to convey how I feel about the world and our place in it by using the food we eat and those we choose to break bread with. Sometimes its just a photo of a taco. Another time I hope to be sitting with the woman who made the tortillas and telling her story.
Can We Do Better?
In His speech Jose Andres quoted Brillat-Savarin “The Future of a nation depends on the way they eat”……We have become a fast food nation. Don’t get me wrong there is a time and a place for Taco Bell & White Castle.. late at night after drinking…. McDonalds…seriously could you make a road trip without stopping at one??
Those are the foods that feed our nation. They are not healthy foods and we are not a healthy nation. We are not kind to one another, we have seen a rise in hate groups. Nazi and white supremacy are things we are actually talking about as something current not in the past. We have called our neighbors in Mexico awful names and made horrible accusations against a whole nationality and ethnic group. All while posting photos of ourselves munching on tacos, drinking margaritas and celebrating Cinco de Mayo.
Even deeper than our love of food from other nations and our outward disdain of those same nations and their people is our apparent apathy for feeding our own citizens. The Future of a nation depends on the way they eat… makes me wonder if we can actually be a great nation if we are not willing to feed our people well. We as people are supporting the cutting of programs that feed our young minds and our elderly wisdom. If you kill the rainbow before it is drawn and don’t care for those that drew it in the first place where does that leave us?
We can do this together
It is not hard or expensive to feed people well. Jose Andres managed to feed Puerto Rico and many in Huston and California during the natural disasters of 2017. It’s also not hard to show love and compassion, we already have the love of tacos in common.
I am always looking for ways to connect the world thru food. If you know of a place I should visit or a food I should eat. Leave it in the comments. I want to discover the rainbow.