by Jennifer Buckett

Created on: December 08, 2010

There is a social value to eating that extends past just putting fuel in our tanks. Eating is “a reflection of our basic values and beliefs” and what, how, and when we eat says a lot about ourselves and what we value (Ikerd). Over the past few decades, America’s relationship with food has evolved as fast-food and eating out have overtaken the traditional home-cooked meal as the de facto standard by which to refuel. This reveals a parallel shift in American values as the busy American lifestyle, filled with business, social, and educational responsibilities, has surpassed the time-honored family meal in importance. As the day to day lives of children and adults have gotten busier, the American lifestyle is now centered on speed and efficiency. Eating has become about grabbing and going and “nearly half of Americans say they eat most meals away from home or on the go” (Jackson, 2008). But, the benefits of the family meal are surprisingly multifarious and the declension of this tradition has allowed people to forget about the bonding power of food. To bring the family meal back into favor, a public health campaign touting its benefits and targeting children and parents will remind Americans that eating together has much more significance than just refueling.

A study conducted by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) in 2009 found that “fifty nine percent of teens (and sixty-two percent of their parents) report having dinner with their families at least five times a week”, an increase of eleven percent since 1998.  Nevertheless, family dinners were fifteen percent more frequent when the current generation of parents was growing up. One must wonder why family meals are less frequent now than they were in the previous generation.

 In the past few decades, Americans have gotten busier, biting off more than they can chew by piling more and more upon their proverbial plate. Globalization opened up the world for greater economic opportunities and created growing international job markets while progressive social movements increased women’s presence in the workplace. With the evolution of communication technology, such as the internet, e-mail, and cell phones, Americans became constantly accessible and the workday was no longer traditionally structured from nine to five. Households with two working parents became the majority, with “both spouses employed at least part time in 51 percent

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