Order out of Chaos
February 11, 2008
I recently found a photo taken in the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake that leveled the city of San Francisco. The hundred-year-old black and white image shows a burned-out and shattered cityscape.
But what do we see in the foreground? A family sitting around a dinner table! They have a white tablecloth and china (paper goods did not exist at the time.) They are eating a meal, seemingly oblivious to the photographer and to the destruction around them.
Here is a stunning record of what was important to people as they reestablished life after disaster. What is more fundamental than eating? What makes us feel better than gathering with our family? Bite by bite, meal by meal, we build not just our bodies but our sense of who we are. In good times and bad, getting together for a meal is one of the primary ways we construct our lives. Meals help us make order and meaning out of chaos Ð whether itÕs life-threatening, or just the normal chaos of life as we live it every day.
Mealtimes Matter Video
from Miriam Weinstein
About Miriam
Miriam Weinstein is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. As a journalist, she has won several awards from the New England Press Association. Her work has appeared in Boston Magazine, the Boston Globe magazine, Hope, and ParentSource. A former staff member for North Shore Weeklies and freelancer for Essex County Newspapers, she writes restaurant reviews and food columns as well as features on a wide variety of subjects. She lives in Gloucester, Massachusetts, with her husband and has two grown children.
The Surprising Power of Family Meals
In her book, The Surprising Power of Family Meals, Miriam Weinstein shows how this basic human institution helps nourish and strengthen our families today. You can buy this book from our friends at Smucker's® Online Store.
