Stalking the Woolly Buffet

I have to tell you right off the top, that some consider me to be a "food snob". Personally, I don't see it. I am just as content to eat at a local "hole in the wall" as other people, but Chris often calls me a food snob, as does his dad I might add. I was originally very offended by this. It sounded derogatory. But I have come to the conclusion that it is not really a bad term at all. My slant on being a food snob is thus; I enjoy good food. What does that mean? I mean that the ingredients of a dish must be fresh, the food must be cooked correctly, and seasoning must be properly applied. The visual art of plating food and the service at a restaurant becomes increasing more important as the price of the restaurant increases, but I am a little flexible on these issues. (Chris would like to point out that that is exactly what he means by "food snob".)

Which brings me to restaurants. What an interesting place they are. As a food snob I go to all kinds, even ones that you might pass up, if you didn't know how delicious the food was. But since the surgery I have become even more fascinated by restaurants, particularly ones that have buffets and by the people who eat at buffets.

Recently, I went to a restaurant in St. Jacobs, Ontario called the Stone Crock, a fabulous place that served wonderful "home cooked" food and had absolutely brilliant service. The restaurant also offered a well set out buffet. As Chris and I sat down for dinner, I commented on how useless a buffet was for me now, since I can only eat a few ounces of food at a time. He agreed and we ordered dinner; I, a bowl of soup and he, pork schnitzel with fresh vegetables.

As we ate dinner, I began to realize that just about everybody who was eating from the buffet was overweight. I had never noticed this before. I was amazed. Couldn't these people see that by eating from a buffet they were eating past their "full signals" and were overeating? How had I not seen this behaviour in myself? Who in their right mind would do this to themselves?

Then to my horror I realized that, in fact, this behaviour was encouraged. All restaurants overfeed their patrons. What is even worse, we demand to be overfed! How many times have I gone to a restaurant and been impressed by the amount of food I was being served. Never once considering the consequences, I too would eat past my full signals and then recommend the restaurant to friends, ultimately encouraging the restaurant to continue doling out plates heaped with food.

What struck me next, is that we hunt these restaurants down. We actively seek out restaurants that give us more food for our money. In essence, instead of hunting down a woolly mammoth and gorging, we hunt down a buffet and gorge, the whole time rolling our eyes, unbuttoning our pants, and lamenting on how full we are!

I'm not sure if I am comforted or horrified.

Comforted, that we live in a country that has so much food or simply horrified that we as a society have taken to abusing food to such a degree. The more serious problem lies in the fact that once people are encouraged to overeat, society then turns its' backs on the results. We ridicule people who are fat as "lazy slobs". We say that they are people who have no will power and low self-esteem. We make fat jokes; laughing at them behind their backs and to their faces. We deny them medical benefits, access to comfortable furniture, large seats in planes, trains, buses, and movie theaters. We create public washrooms, restaurant booths and automobiles that are way to small for them to fit in. We have gyms, yoga studios and exercise programs built by, designed for, and populated by slim, fit individuals. Tell me, how is a person of size to cope with such adversity? They to turn to the very thing that made them the way they were. They eat to console, comfort, and bolster themselves. All the time recognizing that this is not who they want to be.

I don't have the answer. I can only tell you what is going on in my mind. To let you know that this was who I was just a little over a month ago. I am not suggesting that gastric bypass surgery is for every obese person. Rather, I suggest that we need to re-examine the way we use food and how we treat those who are lured by its easy availability and soothing effects.