Thoughts from the Editor

A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety. - Aesop I have a confession to make. I eat way too fast.

Somewhere along the way I learned how to eat quicker than any other person I know. Alright, that’s probably an exaggeration, but you get the point. Unfortunately, I’m just now waking up to the fact that I’ve cultivated a quite ungentlemanly and unhealthy habit here. Like any habit, it happens without much thought; one moment the food is on the plate and the next it’s in my belly. In fact, at dinner tonight my son observed, “Geez Dad, you eat really fast.” And just to rub salt in the wound: “You were done waaaaaaay before all of us!”

I’m noticing that the pace of my consumption often matches the speed of the world around me. Scratch that. My eating tempo probably speaks more to the velocity of my inner life than what’s going on around me. But in a world that preaches “fast is better than slow,” I’ve become an adherent to this message, particularly with my food. When I've got 15 minutes to shovel some food down on the way out the door, a-shovelling I go. If there’s no time between appointments for a proper meal, then I know I can grab a pre-packaged bite to satisfy my hunger.

While eating fast is an embarrassing thing to admit here, I found more significant issues upon further research. It turns out that “wolfing your food down,” as my mom likes to say, can lead to obesity and increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. (All things that I’d really like to avoid.) But we all know that understanding that a thing is bad for you isn’t always enough to change an ingrained habit overnight. I typically need something more compelling to help me break an old habit. And I think I know the trick: pleasure.

Eating fast is not actually that enjoyable. Eating quickly is a matter of convenience, efficiency, and hurry. It’s not a pleasurable experience. As I’m writing this, I’ve been racking my brain to remember what I’ve had to eat over the last two days and most of it is a blur or utterly unremarkable. However, I can recall with vivid detail the moments of purposefully savoring a lovely meal with people I care deeply about. Like the recent anniversary meal my wife and I shared with some of our best friends. It was a 4-hour experience that featured tapas and craft cocktails that I still think about. Or the birthday breakfast biscuits that we had celebrating my son’s 9th birthday. Or the freshly baked challah bread and wine my friends shared with me a couple months ago. While each of these moments were special occasions, it was the act of slowing down and being present that I think was the most important feature and real key to a delightful meal.

The common denominator of a pleasurable meal is the way I show up. It’s not the quality of the biscuits I bake, though they are pretty special, but the intention I bring to the moment. When I’m able to be present, to look people in the eye, to pause between bites and laugh or breathe—these are all vital elements to savoring a meal. I’m starting to think that changing this silly habit is a step towards enjoying the people I love and ultimately enjoying the life I have. Here’s to slowing down and eating well.

Eric Riley Executive Editor Lifestyle Magazine President / Owner Topograph