Currey’s Corner: More than a Meal

What is it about food that helps us truly be seen?

“Do you have plans for dinner?”

Food has significance beyond being life-sustaining. Now most folks fall somewhere on the range of having a love/hate relationship with meal prep, but one thing that we can all agree on is that food brings people together. Recently in my life and in the lives of my “home team”, there has been a lot of “tough” and a lot of “hard.” Have you felt the same? Friends have been experiencing heartbreaks, moving away, loved ones dying, loneliness, even depression. It’s been a lot. In these moments I find myself searching for words to comfort and ease the pain; sometimes I am at a loss. Walking through a tough circumstance in my own life, I found the most helpful response from a friend to be, “….do you have plans for dinner?” On another circumstance, a friend on a whim invited four friends over for pizza and to my surprise, each of the woman opened up about deep pain they were experiencing. I had seen these women many times over the past few weeks and had NO INKLING that they had been going through what their words were saying. What is it about food? What is it about being around a table with people that opens up the door for vulnerability?   THIS WEEK’S GOAL San Chez and Peppino’s are already sold out this week! Try a #bofo special.     I think it’s a step away from the screens we stare at all day and an opportunity to see the face we see on Facebook, face-to-face. In our world of “140 characters or less” and posting things for thousands to see, I’ve discovered what happens around a table to be unique and refreshing. Slowing down and looking someone in the eye and asking, “How are you? No really, how are you?” with no excuse of simply saying, “Fine, how are you,” we are invited to truly be seen (an often scary thought). This is one of the most important things we can do around a table: 1) invite others 2) be seen for exactly who we are. So next time when you’re small-talking with a friend about the good, the bad and the ugly, why not ask the question, “Do you have plans for dinner?”     Hi there! My name is Rebecca Currey and I am an avid food-lover! I wouldn’t go as far as to call myself a foodie, because I don’t have a lot of expertise to offer; rather, I am enthralled by the ability of food to bring people together. FoodCircles celebrates this fact and couples it with feeding kids in need. This is a win-win in my book! I am an adventurer who hails from the awesome state of Alaska, pursuing my masters and exploring the great city of Grand Rapids in my free time. I love to laugh, chat over coffee, meet new people and eat food! I have the absolute pleasure of chronicling some of my thoughts about the significance of gathering around a table. So pull up a seat, the table is set and there is a spot just for you —