There are obvious reasons to love food. It keeps you alive, for instance. However, there are so many other reasons to love food. It's delicious, it keeps you satisfied, there are so many different options, it can bring people together, it sets people apart, and more.

First of all, food is delicious. If you think about the last time you ate your favorite food, you'll know what I'm talking about. When the first bite reaches your mouth, and you get that little flutter in your chest, and it touches your tongue and it's literally the best thing you've ever tasted in your life. Personally, my favorite food is seafood, but my favorite dessert is chocolate covered strawberries. I love seafood because it's like tasting the ocean, and if you've ever been to the ocean, it's one of the most breathtaking sights you can experience. I was at the beach during a meteor shower, and it was, and is, one of my fondest memories. Seafood brings back those memories and so many other memories from the beach and being in the ocean. Chocolate covered strawberries, on the other hand, remind me of summer. My favorite season. I love chocolate covered strawberries because they'll freshen up your day, and when they're in season in the spring and summer they get so juicy and sweet and wonderful. The chocolate is just a bonus, because who doesn't love chocolate?

Not only does food taste good, but it makes you feel good. Yes, if you eat McDonald's every day of your life, you're not going to feel good. However, as I'm sure you've heard, if you eat well, you'll feel well. Food helps your body and nourishes it; it doesn't just sustain it. And if you eat the right food, it'll keep you satisfied for hours. It won't just keep you full, either. Full and satisfied have two very different definitions. Full is when you no longer want to eat because you have eaten enough food and your stomach capacity is running low. Satisfied is when the food you are eating makes you not want to eat anymore.

If you've ever been to a city, you know how many options there are to eat. There are restaurants around every corner, and they all vary in what they offer. Just in the United States, we offer anything from American food to French food to Ethiopian food to Japanese food, and it is all delicious. Not only are there countless restaurant options, but there are countless options within those restaurants. Fast food places alone offer anywhere between 20-50 options. Menus tend to be pages upon pages long, and most people don't even read the whole thing before they decide what they want to eat. The possibilities are endless with food.

Food can also bring people together. Growing up, we always had dinner as a family. Every night, the four of us would sit down at the kitchen table and eat, whether it was a home-cooked meal or Mickey D's. Food also brings people together on other levels. First dates are almost always dinner, sometimes a movie with popcorn. Friends go out to lunch or dinner or breakfast or anything, really, as long as there is food involved. I like to go out to frozen yogurt with my friends, yum! When something happens in life, food follows shortly behind, whether it is a break-up, a death in the family, a sad book, a wedding, or a baby announcement. Food always brings people together.

Lastly (for now), food sets people apart, but in a good way. My first year of college, one of my best friends was from Turkey, and she was always bringing food to class that was different and interesting. She brought fruit, chips, and even drinks that I had never even heard of. She put ketchup on her spaghetti! (Apparently, this is common in a lot of countries, just not the United States). Watching her bring in all of these foods really made me want to broaden my horizons. It set her apart from the crowd, but it also made her interesting. It was a great topic of conversation amongst the people in our classes, and everyone was always asking her what she was eating when she would bring in something no one had heard of before.

There are so many reasons to love food other than the obvious. Food doesn't just keep you alive; it gives you life. Life essentially revolves around food, so why don't we embrace it? Read the whole menu at a restaurant before you decide what you're going to get. Try something new at that ice cream shop with 36 flavors. Go to the Uncommon Food Market and buy something you've never heard of from another part of the world. Cook dinner with your family, eat family meals, connect with friends over lunch. Branch out and expand your knowledge on food, not only for yourself but for others around you, too.