“All great change in America begins at the dinner table” — Ronald Reagan

Written By: Molly McCarty

Like most, I  have been guilty of not really thinking about where my food comes from.  In the summer of 2012 I began really learning all about farming and where most food starts out! It’s easy to forget that every piece of fruit or veg, cheese or meat. Any Nuts or grains, even prepared, canned or boxed food wouldn’t exist. Even sodas, beer, wine, and spirits can be traced back to a specific crop grown in a field by a dirty guy/gal working their tail off. The aisles of grocery stores around the world would be empty if it weren’t for farmers! This thought really boggles my mind, and it’s something I hardly thought of before I was attached to one of those farmers!! According to numbers from the USDA, one farmer feeds 155 people worldwide. Watching the hours and man power it takes to grow food for, even a small part of the world, changed my life. It would make any person see things differently! Once the process has come full circle, it’s a marvelous product and very hard to forget!

Food should taste good, but that doesn’t mean it has to be bad for you!!

To me, the word “diet” is more that just meal prepping for the next week or checking the nutrition label before you eat something! Like it or not, when your doctor asks what your diet is like, he/she is not asking if you are on weight watchers or the Atkins diet. They are asking if you are providing your body with the proper nutrients to sustain a healthy lifestyle. Your diet is the totality of what you are putting into your body over extended periods of time! I’m a true believer that anything in moderation is okay. (that excludes tide pods, of course!) Being able to indulge in some of my favorite bad foods is part of living realistically. Small portions isn’t what works for everyone, but it makes the most sense for my lifestyle! I try very hard to make sure that my food is healthy, without being unrealistic. Food should taste good, but that doesn’t mean it has to be bad for you!!

I started taking an interest in cooking when I moved out into the world and had my very own apartment in the nearby city of Lubbock. While it was far from fancy, it’s the place where my desire to cook and entertain was kindled. Don’t get me wrong, I ate plenty of pizza rolls back then (Okay, I still do. So what?) and had plenty to learn. Living there gave me the freedom to attempt cooking anything I pleased, all on my own! My curiosity and originality has only grown since then! By now I am pretty confident in saying that cooking is something I am passionate about. I am by no means a gourmet chef, and don’t think I ever want to be. Although I’m sure Gordon Ramsay could give some of my failed dishes a great burn on Twitter, I try not to let the mistakes I’ve made get me down. Everything is trial and error in my kitchen, and believe me, there is a lot of error! I just want to have fun and be fearless in attempting new things!

The absolute best reason food is so important to me, is simple and wonderful. It is not only useful to curb my afternoon/and midnight snack cravings. Food is a universal language. Food connects us all to our greatest memories, and gives us a reason to come together. Some of the best moments, hardest talks, and most self-revealing conversations in my life have taken place at a dinner table.

Every person on earth can agree on food. They want it, love it, crave it, and need it.

The beauty in readying a meal is that every culture in the far corners of the world has a unique way of preparing food for their people. In fact, it’s funny how similar cooking techniques from all over the world can be! No matter what color your skin, what language you speak, or what country you live in, it’s unanimous; everybody loves food!! It’s easily what I love most about cooking and entertaining. Every person on earth can agree on food. They want it, love it, crave it, and need it. I truly believe if we could all extend an invitation to our dinner tables more often, not forgetting what that table was made for, and remembering to click the TV off. We could all have truly meaningful conversations with our children, friends, and neighbors about the values we hold dear. The world would be changed one meal at a time. As Ronald Reagan famously said. “All great change in America begins at the dinner table”.  This is something I firmly believe is true for not just my family, or America, but for the world! I aim to love people and change the world, one meal at a time!