5 Ways to Savor Your Food

The name of the game in the U.S. is bigger, faster and cheaper. But usually not better. We don't seem to care for better.

That's especially the case with our food. We love to "supersize" our cruddy fast food, regardless of whether we're hungry enough to eat it or whether it's even worth eating. I saw a TV ad for a 42 ounce soda at a burger joint — my lord, that's over a liter (1.24, to be exact). I guess we just love the feeling of getting a deal and getting it fast.

How things would change if we valued "better quality" and "more intense taste" over bigger and faster. We would demand different things from our food system, so the system would have to change. It would become that much easier to get the higher quality, tastier stuff we really want; a virtuous circle of good, delicious eating. It wouldn't be big, cheap or fast, but it would be so much better.

While I claim to want better and tastier, I haven't necessarily embraced the slow, grateful and thoughtful method of eating that appreciating this kind of food requires. I know I frequently gobble up a healthy, flavorful, high-quality meal as fast as I used to inhale a six-pack of Chicken McNuggets as a child. I imagine I'm not the only one.

I frequently vow to eat slower and savor my food more, but I rarely follow through. It reminds me of that moment in "The Simpsons" when Homer asks “Do you want the job done right, or do you want it done fast?” and Marge responds, "Well, like all Americans, fast."

If we were to pay more careful and appreciative attention to what we eat, perhaps we'd be more inclined to demand that each bite be high-quality and delicious. What techniques can we use to savor our food more? Jennifer LaRue Huget, writing in the Washington Post, has some good suggestions:

• Pause to smell your food before tasting
• Notice the food's temperature in your mouth
• Appreciate how it feels on your tongue
• Pay close attention to its flavors
• Put your fork down as you chew

When was the last time anybody did any of that when eating an extra value meal? Considering they wouldn't be using a fork, probably never. With these little tips, we can get the job of eating done right, and then we'll be setting ourselves up to embrace a whole new world of food.

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