Food Glorious Food (blog #6)

Food. It fuels us. It helps build our bodies. Through it we often construct our identities and define our particular tribe; "I'm a vegan." "I follow a paleo diet." I'm lacto-ovan vegetarian." I'm lactose intolerant" and so on...
Once I was at a student appreciation party and dinner at a yoga studio in Austin, TX. I was a teacher at the studio and it was a great opportunity for students and staff to hang out and better get to know each other outside of class. Some of the food was catered by Whole Foods and a few students and teachers also brought various dishes, desserts  and beverages. It was a wonderfully eclectic buffet, much like Austin itself.
There was everything from teriyaki tofu, quinoa & pomegranate salad to dark chocolate & Himalayan sea salt caramel mousse, as well as many other gastronomically adventurous delights.
Suffice it to say that I had no trouble filling my plate. Someone, (who has earned a certain BBQ saint hood in my book) brought a brisket from Salt Lick BBQ. Words can not describe...
I greedily forked a few smokey slabs onto my plate. While doing so, a student saw me. She appeared to be somewhat shocked. She asked me, "Do you eat that?!!" I should have known. I felt like sheepishly pointing to my roasted organic golden beets and kale salad so that I could be somehow redeemed in her eyes. Also, the non-yogi rebel in me thought of playing tit for tat and mentioning her slice of tres leche cake, guava empanada and very large glass of Malbec and saying "And you eat and drink that?!!"
It's funny. Really it is! Neither of us were functioning rationally or had any right to question the other. Our opinions of each other weren't based on good science or an awareness of each other's metabolisms and personal tastes. We simply were in an environment and culture that seemed to encourage vegetarianism and discourage intake of sugar and dairy products. Neither of us had the training nor the expertise to be casting aspersions on each other's choices of food and drink. And hell, it was a party!!
All of this helps to point out how complex our relationship to food is. At times it seems almost impossible to pull apart the threads that construct our food choices. Personally I've tried going vegan, vegetarian, paleo, sugar-free, dairy-free and grain-free for selected stretches of time. Through that I think that I have found a diet that works best for me. It happens to include lean meats, fish and eggs while minimizing  sugar and refined carbohydrate intake. However, I love good pastries!! My mother and grandmother, in the hearty German tradition, were wonderful bakers. There are times I swear I'd sell my soul (if I believed that I had one; but we'll save that for another post)  For a pan of my mom's brownies or grandmother's apple strudel.
What does all of this say?
I think that we need to look at our collective evolutionary biology and see how important animal products were concerning the development of our brains and bodies and how equally important quick-to-burn foods like sugars and simple carbohydrates were to giving us the "rocket fuel" to either chase and capture prey or, avoid predation ourselves. What's changed is that those foods used to be scarce and hard to come by. Now, we can go to Teppanyaki Buffet and gorge ourselves on a regular basis if we choose. Poor old Neanderthal Man rarely got that chance.