It's not just about food

There was a posting recently on CYC-NET asking about the availability of snacks for young people in group living situations, and it got me to thinking. Well, that’s always a dangerous thing because it tends to cause me to open my mouth and put my foot in it.

I am always amazed at how often food becomes the stimulus for power struggles between youth and staff – or youth and parents, for that matter. It’s such a basic and simple thing really – food – that it is interesting how it becomes so contentious. But then so do many other basic, and simple, things – like bedtimes, hygiene, interactions, coming in and going out. The foundational things in life, really. But if you look at them all, they actually have something in common: control. Control over your basic living. How you are in the world. How you can, or cannot, control these things.

And then each of them also has their special characteristics – like food. Or in this case, snacks. So, before I go any further I want to be clear and declare my bias. I believe that certain foods should be available to youth at all times, with basically no limits except those which might be required because of the particular characteristics or idiosyncrasies of an individual.

Now, this isn’t because of my inability to say “no”, or because I don’t want to argue with youth, or because I am a western liberal wimp. No. There are other reasons why I believe that in group care situations certain foods, like fruit, yogurt, and other healthy snacks should be available all the time. Here, in no particular order, are some of them:

For many people food is associated with caring, and youth should feel cared for at all times.
Adolescents love to eat – it is normal and natural – so why interfere with a normal, and not unhealthy, activity? And different adolescents are hungry according to different rhythms.
For many people eating is a form of nurturing. And it is associated with the same meaning we associate with nurturing. So why would we stop people from nurturing themselves? Especially in such a non-destructive manner.
Eating, for many, is a simple pleasant sensation. Youth in group care have a lot of pain in their lives. Why deny them this simple pleasure?
If youth have bad eating habits, a bowl of fruit, regularly available, can introduce her to a healthier alternative.
Food, as we will all probably acknowledge, somehow nourishes the spirit. It involves the “feeding of the self”.
Being able to grab a banana, orange or other fruit, whenever you like, gives one, foolish as it may sound to some, a sense of control over some small area of one’s life. Youth in group living situations typically have so little control over their lives, that this is often one of the few times they do.

Well, I guess I could go on, as I am sometimes wont to do, but perhaps, at this point, enough said. Given the foregoing, I can’t understand why anyone would want to restrict youths access to simple food – like fruit? How does it make any sense to do that? For me, it would be like saying one couldn’t have a drink of water except at certain times. So, let me leave you with two thoughts, neither of which is my own:

In addition to nourishing the body, food is a sign of warmth, acceptance and friendship. – Puoane, Matwa & Steyn, (2001)

Food is the staff of life that sustains the universe, and food is the tangible foundation of every being's existence. – Ginsburg & Taylor (2001)

Thom

References
Puoane, T., Matwa, P., & Steyn, K. (2001). The meaning of food and the contexts in which food is used: Experiences of a population residing in a black township in South Africa. Chronic Diseases of Lifestyle, Medical Research Council, Tygerberg, South Africa.

Ginsburg, L. & Taylor, M. (2003). What Are You Hungry For? Women, Food and Spirituality. New York: St. Martin's Press.