Food and Memories

Khichdi

“What is patriotism but the love of the food one ate as a child?”
― Yutang Lin

Food is so closely linked with our strongest and most intimate memories that it becomes difficult to separate one from the other. Whatever part of our lives we remember and reminisce about, there is at least one of the five sensory perceptions associated with it. The food we ate growing up, the music we heard during our teenage years, the movies we watched with college buddies and so on… Probably that sensory perception is what actually creates the memories, makes them clearer and more than just another imaginary haze in our head. In a certain sense, giving up a certain food, especially if it is an old favorite, feels like severing off a certain section of our very life. If I were to give up cornflakes, how ever would I remember my childhood days without sadness?

I think that is one of the reasons people who wish to give up meat find it very difficult to do so despite their best intentions. It would not be an exaggeration to say that, in the United States and in many other cultures as well, meat is an integral part of the diet. Childhood snacks, Thanksgiving meals, birthday treats, date nights… take any occasion, memorable or not, and if it involves food, it most likely included meat. It has just been that way for people who grew up in these cultures.

The problem is when the intellect clashes with the heart. At an intellectual level, people know the facts about animal cruelty, factory farming, hormone-ridden meat, etc. and probably understand that eschewing meat products is in their best interest, health-wise as well as ethics-wise. But how does one get that intellectual understanding to reconcile with the heart’s desire for the foods it is fond of?

I know of people who managed to get their hearts to listen to their heads and turned vegetarian. They were able to turn away from the intense pull of their fondest food memories. Hats off to them! But it isn’t easy. It requires much will and a determination almost bordering on stubbornness.

So what is the alternative?

What if the craving for meat reduces and then disappears? This means that there is no head-heart conflict. When desire vanishes, what is to miss and mourn? Alright, so how to get the craving to reduce/disappear? It is doable. Will write about it next.