We have always wondered why some cuisines are not better in India. Sitting down for dinner or strolling through supermarkets might serve as a good introduction to the philosophical thinking of food. This is the foremost philosopher of food’s credo. And in COVID-19 times it is essential to significantly lower the risks of deadly diseases and strengthen the immune system with the connoisseur of gluttony towards good rich foods.
The idea of food basis that ‘Food is the reflective mirror’ says its ethical, artistic, political and social to identify the defining aspects of foods. Countries like China, Japan, Thailand, the Philippines, Hong Kong – and to some extent Russia – were exclusively vegetarian for centuries. Eating meat was resumed following the cycles of seasons and valuing local produce only in the modern period. The belief’s that it is the satvik repast at its most sublime. No one dares to share the leftovers of their rituals to transfer us to the realm of pure bliss. Such countries do not like to interfere with natural textures and tastes, so do the minimal cooking that preserves the natural flavours and nutrition. It is now challenging to more actively ponder upon our diets and eating habits to understand who we are in deeper and authentic way importantly in now COVID times.
Food relations change from time to time and moment to moment with changing circumstances. For instance, pastry and coffee are fine at breakfast or as an afternoon or evening snack but may be unpalatable at dinner. Moreover, some prefer soda at the bowling alley but may refrain to consume it at home and at the supermarket we may try to buy non-organic meat, but at holidays, we prefer eating Burger King or KFC with fries. So, this food relation is the foremost mirror of the earth representing the needs, habits, convictions, deliberations and compromises along with reduced gluttony in this dangerous havoc to health.
Would you eat a cat? A dog? A rabbit? Why or why not? Ethical convictions shape the philosophical aspects of the diet. Consider vegetarianism that conforms to this diet to prevent unjustified violence being done to the animals. Food is the best minor art in a way that it is short-lived and is linked to the nourishment. It also depends upon the materialistic and musical constitution in which painting or even sculpture is not lonesome natural aspect. The best cook can be a very good artisan and can be paired with skilled gardeners with fancy hairdressers. The food art is the central tenet of ethical food’s philosophy wherein artists can sharpen his or her food skills and nourish the crucial moments of COVID-times.
Food questions that are there laws of metabolisms like laws of nature? Can food nutrition be at par with scientific cell biology? For philosophers and historian researchers, food is a terrain of research that put forth these scientific-philosophical food questions. Fair issues of food trades and equity in global market, factory-farming harnessing pollutions than the air travel, trade and distribution is an opportunity to talk about the food workers across the globe thereby levelling down or neutralising the sub-standardised effects of COVID by avoiding to-and-fro trade of food markets globally.
So, meaningful refusal to the eating habits can be likened and food becomes the main gist of the philosophical insight. Hence the quest for the authentic diet by analysing the other aspects of food relations is a key to ‘We are what we eat’. Proper diet and nutrition are not the only magic bullets; people in COVID-19 times need more mental support and diet to ensure good health.
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Image credit: Freepik
Jashan Jot Kaur is the Directorate of Dasmesh Public School in India.
