EATING OUT OF BOWLS

In the night I heard ‘most of the world eats out of bowls.’ My first thought was an image of ‘feeding the poor’ and how this translated to serving food that is put into a cup/bowl for eating (at least in some countries). But though this may be true on some occasions it far from explained the idea of ‘most of the world eating out of bowls.’

Much of the world does eat out of bowls by sipping or dipping bread or by spoon. Another part eats from plates and cuts up various foods into bite sizes to eat with knife, fork and spoon. But the Asian, Indian and African nations largely eat from bowls. The issue isn’t bowl or plate as much as it is diet/food choices. Regardless of status many eat from bowls by choice, tradition and food preparation.

Historically, a strange thing has happened: the bowl size has remained about the same but “As food availability increased, so did plate sizes. The increase in the diameter of a typical dinner plate is estimated as 65% since 1000 AD.” (Wikipedia) Perhaps this helps explain why a great deal of our population is not as weighty as others.

How else could a person eat their Wheaties, if not in a bowl?

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” Jesus