The sharing of food has brought people together since the beginning of time. It’s how we make friends, nurture relationships, celebrate milestones, mend conflicts and even create a feeling of gratitude for life itself.

Whether you’re dishing up dal, sharing a sarnie or passing round the pasta, food is a great way to break down barriers and bring people together. From workplace lunches to intimate dinner parties, many memories are often made whilst sat around the dining table.

For many of us, mealtime has long evolved from being a simple sustenance exercise to a true bonding experience, especially within a community. Whether food is being cooked on a stove, grill, or even prepared at a restaurant or catered, it acts as the glue that holds people together to interact at gatherings, meetings, and even funerals.

It’s the perfect social agent, a vehicle strategically used to help people to work together and build trust around a common place and understanding. From catching up over coffee, relaxing over brunch, indulging in a long lunch or bonding at a family meal, it’s hard to imagine getting together without the company of good food.

For as far as we can remember, eating together was the perfect time for discussing life’s current affairs, ideas, careers and it was a great opportunity to pass on knowledge from person to person- all whilst enjoying delicious plates of food.

Think about your favourite foods. Perhaps it’s your mum’s home-cooked roast, or your grandma’s secret-recipe brownies. Maybe, it’s that strawberry gelato you had on your trip to Italy, or that amazing grilled cheese sandwich your wife makes. 

Chances are, your favourite food is connected to someone, somewhere. It doesn’t matter where you come from, how you grew up or what you have access to. The emotions that come from sharing food are universal.

So when you’re dining with strangers and sharing their favourite foods, you’re getting a very real insight into their life. You’re getting a glimpse into their passions, their history and their culture. And as you embrace their story and connect over food, chances are, you’re sharing a very authentic part of yourself too.

As you can see, social eating clearly played an important factor in our lives, and the same can be said for many others. It’s a key role in the development of community life and a key factor in creating social currency and happiness within any community – many studies indicate that families that eat together are healthier and can even benefitting from lower rates of depression and obesity along with higher rates of literacy and self-esteem.

In addition to this, psychologists and nutritionists also broadly agree that sitting down to eat with others is good for everyone’s physical and emotional wellbeing, especially children and teenagers.

So how do we make the most of eating together when it’s not possible every night?

Make mealtimes an occasion.

“Breaking Bread” by The Table Project, a community project that provides the perfect opportunity to break down barriers, collaborate, encourage, and build together as a community over great food, conversation & laughter.

It’s a chance to build bridges through intentional conversation & authentic listening — with the aim of increasing self confidence, building self-esteem and social skills within the community.

In our culture, we love the idea of networking and collaborating as a means of building togetherness within the wider community.

You can learn more about The Table Project here.

Have everyone help prepare the table.

If you are hosting a mealtime occasion of your own consider adding a fun element, especially where young children are involved, by bringing the buffet to the table. Instead of plating up individual dishes, place different elements of the meal on the table so everyone can help themselves.

Everyone should be at least a tiny bit invested. It can even be as small of a thing as being the person that tells everyone dinner is served. This is a great way for everyone to pick the bits that they actually want to eat and have a conversation whilst eating together.

Incorporate your favourite game (or debatable topic)..

Entertaining friends and family is a big part any get together. In our family, after the food & dessert plates have been cleared from the table, it’s game time. Literally!

Games require critical thought, strategic thinking, and rapid responses. For many of us games are a way of making learning fun, they promote teamwork that identifies each team members’ strengths and they encourage exploration of new concepts and ideas.

Incorporating debates and talks can be a great way to stimulate a “game-like” environment that’s centred around fun and learning.

Choose a topic that you want to address, create a theme, and then give your audience a choice of how they participate.

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There’s never been a better time to gather around a table, perhaps with family, maybe with friends, and sometimes even with strangers.

So, consider this your invitation to the table to break down barriers, collaborate, encourage, and build together as a community over great food, conversation & laughter.

You can learn more about what we are doing to empowering & support our community through our past and current projects here.

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