This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/magazine/7784339.stm
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Let's all sit down to eat | Let's all sit down to eat |
| (1 day later) | |
| The Forum 60 seconds to change the world Can a simple idea help make the world a better place? Each week, the BBC World Service asks a guest to outline an idea to improve all our lives. Here, theatre director Yvonne Brewster suggests eating home-cooked meals together. | The Forum 60 seconds to change the world Can a simple idea help make the world a better place? Each week, the BBC World Service asks a guest to outline an idea to improve all our lives. Here, theatre director Yvonne Brewster suggests eating home-cooked meals together. |
| My idea to make the world a better place, healthier, wealthier and wiser is for everyone to sit down at least once a day at a table, not in public transport, in the street or on the job - to eat something that has been prepared in the home. | My idea to make the world a better place, healthier, wealthier and wiser is for everyone to sit down at least once a day at a table, not in public transport, in the street or on the job - to eat something that has been prepared in the home. |
| Healthier, as nothing could be worse for our overworked hearts than eating whilst walking or driving or even riding a bicycle. FROM BBC WORLD SERVICE More from The Forum | Healthier, as nothing could be worse for our overworked hearts than eating whilst walking or driving or even riding a bicycle. FROM BBC WORLD SERVICE More from The Forum |
| So less stress, fewer ulcers and fewer coronaries. | So less stress, fewer ulcers and fewer coronaries. |
| Wealthier, as food is much cheaper when prepared in the home. So there's much more money left in the pocket. | Wealthier, as food is much cheaper when prepared in the home. So there's much more money left in the pocket. |
| And wiser - well it's definitely wise to help protect our environment. | And wiser - well it's definitely wise to help protect our environment. |
| Just think of the mountain of extruded foam, cardboard and paper which would not be created if for one meal a day, we ate from a proper plate. | Just think of the mountain of extruded foam, cardboard and paper which would not be created if for one meal a day, we ate from a proper plate. |
| /> | |
| Below is a selection of your comments. | |
| Eating a meal together once a day doesn't just save money and the environment, I believe it can help families get closer too. My family always ate an evening meal together everyday. It meant we communicated better as a family and it's something I want my own family to do when I have one.Kerry, Oxford | |
| My first and possible naive response is that surely everyone eats at least one meal a day from a proper plate? Surely families with children sit and eat a meal together once a day but then I remember it's 2008 and maybe Yvonne Brewster is right in thinking that a significant number do neither.Hannah, UK | |
| That's why dinner parties are so popular, especially with close friends. You get to reconnect and bond with them, have laughs and create memories. It's a pity that most people don't transfer that basic idea to eating with one's own family.Tamara, Victoria BC, Canada | |
| Yvonne Brewster is quite right. She appears to have left out something extremely important about eating together, though. Eating together is one of the most important social activities we have. No culture is without it. This is where family life starts. The one meal a day (or however often) we can enjoy with our loved ones, friends, or both means better health and a sense of well-being.D Fear, Heidelberg, Germany | |
| Sad to say but I cannot remember the last time I sat down with my family to eat. Thanks for the tip. I really feel very guilty.Israel Ambe Ayongwa, Jonkoping, Sweden | |
| Throughout my childhood my family would eat all our meals together at a dinner table. It gave us the opportunity to catch up with everyone's news, discuss issues in our own lives and the wider world and gain an appreciation for my parents' wonderful cooking. My brother and I are now grown up and live far away from our parents in Northumberland but we are still a very close family and are all looking forward to sitting down together over Christmas.Ellie, Sheffield | |
| This simple idea is one that my parents believed in and my partner and I still do now. No matter what is going on, me and my partner sit down every evening to a home cooked meal and talk about our day. To me this is normal.Julie G, Christchurch, Dorset | |
| How utterly depressing that this is now an aspiration. I know people have busy lives and I don't think it helps to have such unachievable recipes prepared on TV. I believe it actually takes less time to eat with company than in from of the TV and the food tastes better.Alice, London, UK | |
| Cooking is overrated. Eating together, yes absolutely. But what's wrong with some good bread, cheese and fruit. I think we place too much importance on cooking itself as opposed to the real benefit which is being together over food. It's arrogance to assume we have to slave over a hot stove everyday.Kate, Bristol | |
| As a person from Hong Kong, our social lives revolve heavily around meals and socialising during meals. Everyone enjoys eating and sharing the enjoyment of a meal with others is what I consider to be a good use of time and effort. Heck, I even enjoy cooking.Kidd, Derby | |
| How patronising. I'm sure most families manage to eat together without being told to in such a condescending manner.Pix6, Vienna, Austria | |
| Cooking and eating together as a family or with friends is one of the truly wholesome experiences available to us. It provides time to listen and understand and reflect what's happening to us in this fast paced world.Diane Woodward, Amesbury, US | |
| This really is a good idea, but just shows how things have changed. Not that long ago, this would have been the norm. So what went wrong?Christine Stuart, Mexborough | |
| While fine in principle, this article leaves out information on exactly how this sumptuous meal is going to make it onto the table, and who will clear up afterwards. Very few families have the luxury of a stay at home adult, who would be prepared to cook, serve and clean up such a meal.Jan Leeke, Swindon |