We are obsessed with food. Eating food, watching videos of food being prepared, taking artsy photos of food, and even listening to the sounds of cooking. We worship the physical need of hunger and as American's in particular, polarize our eating habits into two categories: guilty indulgences and healthy alternatives. With the rise of fad diets such as: South Beach, Mediterranean, 80-20, Atkins, and Weight Watchers, we are constantly scrutinizing what we eat and become critical of ourselves as a result. These diets have positive trials and scientific testing to support their advertisement, but by restricting yourself to specific allowances, you are likely setting yourself up for failure and in turn, we often feel guilty and ashamed when we cheat the strict criteria. Why do we as Americans, seemingly more than any other culture, feel that we need to perfect the diet, so much that it becomes overly consuming of one's time, energy and damaging to our mental health? It begins with our attitude toward the meal.

In elementary and middle school, I distinctly remember walking as fast as possible to the cafeteria, racing against my classmates to get in the front of the line so I could fill my growling belly and finish within the generous twenty-one minutes of the lunch period. Apart from the horrifically too-short lunch period, the school lunch system encourages us to think of a meal as a competition, driven by administrators that care about efficiency and certainly not the welfare of the student. Twenty minutes is not nearly enough time to enjoy one's food, know when you are indeed full, and most importantly, converse with one's fellow classmates. After visiting Europe, I learned how much more healthy a meal time can be. For example, students at most French high schools are allowed at least an hour for lunch, and often are able to go home or off campus during this time, forcing them to reset their minds and prepare mentally and physically for the remainder of the day. One of my favorite past-times while abroad was to host or attend a dinner party with friends. We would sit at the table for multiple hours, chatting and slowly enjoying our meal. It seems that more often than not, this happens in the States solely on occasion with one's family, or when going out to a restaurant. Even whilst out to eat, I have noticed that people do not nearly spend as much time at the table, the check comes promptly and they are off to the next activity they have packed into the day.

We see food as the enemy. Trying to cut down on calories, sugar, and fat as much as possible, punishing ourselves at the gym because of an impulsively eaten doughnut, food becomes the end, not the means to fulfill a physical need. I am absolutely guilty of this frame of mind, sometimes doing certain things just to indulge in gluttony later, and not appreciating the exercise or other activity for itself. Limiting yourself to a meticulously healthy diet creates cravings for the elements cut out of the diet, encouraging binge-eating and resulting low self-esteem, possibly even leading to eating disorders and depression. The French, in general,have a diet of lots of carbs and sugar, and yet, they are some of the leanest people in the world. Why is this? They do not have the same obsessive attitude toward what they are eating. They sit at meals for longer periods and have smaller, often more gourmet portions. If they do not finish what is on their plate, no one flashes the evil eye or questions their appetite, for it would be impolite. Other cultures share this more benevolent and tolerant attitude toward food, the Spanish traditional way of eating to pass around plates of tapas, or small entrees, allowing everyone a taste and furthering the idea that the table is a place of relations. By focusing on people rather than the food fueling one's life, people become the more important fuel of life.

Sometimes, food is the reward. Or the best friend. I fully believe that sometimes a person needs chocolate and that food can make someone happy. However, this notion of glorifying food, placing it on a pedestal that one regards as the ultimate comfort or pleasure forwards food's function as a drug. Often, we know that we are going to overeat and that we will feel uncomfortable and angry at ourselves later, yet we gorge ourselves anyway. This results in a type of self-harm and cycle of measuring food for not what is brings your body, but how it makes you feel emotional. This relationship is not natural to its function as a physical human need, eating ideally should be enjoyed in congruence with the need being fulfilled, but surely one does not benefit if it becomes an obsession.

The rise of fitness videos and Instagram profiles is also contributing to an American beauty standard, of self-denial and obsession of muscular physique. The American standard of beauty is moving from the smallest waist possible to ripped six-packs. The only way to get there, however, is by cutting out certain foods and spending hours in the gym daily. While this physique is arguably necessary for athletes who are training or people who want to make a profession out of helping others get in better physical shape, for the average person, it is likely an unattainable standard. Exercise and body-building or shaping have its merits, but when it becomes an obsession, one ends up limiting their potential in other hobbies, intellectual, or artistic interests. The emergence of exercise videos and finding that perfect angle for an Instagram, and 'food-porn' videos on 'Tasty', television, or Snapchat, produces constant voyeurism among consumers. I also find myself spending way too many minutes watching these videos, researching recipes I will never make, and surely, my time would be better spent being creative in the kitchen or spending quality time with loved ones.

While there are those who are passionate about food, chefs who create masterpieces that some would call art, or critics that have refined their palate to give public advice, most of us are self-declared 'foodies' that think we like food more than others and revel in our desire and its fulfillment. But we are never fulfilled. We only have so much material to mentally focus on, on any given day and I hope to shift unnecessary and damaging focus from how many super-foods I can fit into a blender to developing myself in a variety of other pursuits. We need to learn how to enjoy cooking, flavor, and meals, not to their end of pleasure, leading to gluttony and binge-eating, but for the beauty of creation and conversation over a shared love of fulfilling a human need.