Cena

One of the places on my bucket list of places to see is Rome. The Italian city is sprawling with culture, and it would be amazing to partake in some of the ancient sites as well as visiting the Vatican City to see the hub of what has been the largest religious body for centuries. 

Italy is renowned for its cuisine. One could easily make a case for it being the most liked food in America besides the most eaten food in the U.S....tacos. 

In Ancient Rome, the midday meal was called Cena, and it was what the daily schedule orbited around. It eventually transformed into a later evening meal. Some would say around 5-6pm would be when the workday would end and people would begin to prepare to eat Cena. What fascinates me about Cena is that it was the main venue for social interaction. Business partners, family, guests, and others would usually have a place at the table, and if it was a really specially occasion, there would be some sort of entertainment for the wealthy people. Dinner and some tunes would be right in the dining room.

Some wealthy people today still have a staff on hand at their house to prepare meals and they have roaring dinner parties, so we still have some of that culture here thousands of years later. What I do believe we have lost though is the concrete nature of how this meal was a part of normal, everyday life for the Roman. 

I want to believe people still share meals in their homes, but as a young married person with no children, these mealtimes are easily lost for me, so I sense they are lost for people like myself. I believe that there is a special bond formed by eating with others in a home. A restaurant has amazing functionality for convenience and diversity of options, but unless you have the private room, the intimate connection of a small-medium sized group of people is not preserved. 

I could talk for 10,000 words on this subject, so to simplify the concept for people who may have not experienced this concept...I say, "Do as the Romans Do!"

Invite a few friends or family over for dinner! If you can't cook, order food, or ask everyone to bring something. If someone offers you to come over for dinner, do it! Things that are not scheduled are the first to go, so before buying that ticket to go see Black Mass or making a hair appointment, check the calendar and ask, "Is there a way I can have a meal with someone I care about this week?" I believe that any opportunity to share a meal with others is actually changing the world in a small way. We have 365 opportunities a year to share a meal with others, so a few successful attempts can really start to put a dent in a few of the problems around us! 

This is a political platform that I think a few people could get behind. Family meals to end poverty, inequality, and probably climate change. 

#cena2016

-Jarred