NORTHERN PLANNER

After a good dinner, one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relations

Oscar Wilde

The daily ritual of meals – the shared preparation and eating with others – can bring people together in more ways than one. Bonds are formed, richer connections come about. There’s more time to listen to each other, indulge, inform. But most of us eat our evening meal in front of the TV….anthropologist Mary Douglas has long blamed the decline of the West on the disappearance of the Sunday lunch.

But it’s not just the home. We eat alone in offices too. More often than not, we don’t take a ‘lunch break’, our food is illuminated by our screen as we continue to work at our desks. Organisations need to bond too. I think that’s why I so value the act of making tea for everyone, made in a pot. It’s a little shared moment in the hectic day. People can taste the care you’ve put in.

When western society values individuality at the expense of community (which sort of goes against human nature, but let’s not go there) it’s a shame that this simple way to share warmth and create a sense of belonging is so rare.