Meal Grammar

As Mary Douglas points out in her article, “the taking of food has a social component, as well as a biological one.” When attempting to decipher meal grammar, this is an important factor to take into consideration. Meal grammar changes between cultures, even in smaller groups inside of cultures. Although my favorite meals are ones that have a social component where I can enjoy food in the company of others, amidst my busy schedule, I often find myself eating while working. I am simply fulfilling my biological need to eat, because my body tells me that it’s been hours since my last meal and it wants more fuel. In American society, this is regarded as acceptable for college students, because we are constantly busy doing one thing or another, rarely leaving an appropriate amount of time for a full night’s sleep or a regularly scheduled social meal.

            I consider myself lucky because I have family who live relatively close to here, so I always have a delicious, homemade meal with them on Sunday evenings. This forces me to take time out of my hectic schedule and restore the proper qualities to at least one meal a week, sharing the meal with my family over conversation and laughter. This past Sunday, my aunt made a comment about the meal she prepared that caught my attention. She pointed out that everything on the plate was in the same family of colors. While this was true, it was still a full meal in the sense that the main food groups were all present. Although she realized this, something about the meal seemed off-balance to her because it wasn’t visually diverse enough. This is another component of meal grammar that is important to note. A meal, whether it is complete with the major food groups or not, is often regarded in terms of how it appears on the plate. Food appearance plays a major role in the success of the meal. It may not be clear to some people, but we all do have a culturally scripted idea of meal grammar.