Mother's food and pluralism

Growing up in a small town, my world was walled in with a limited perspective. My mother’s food was the best in the world, no one on the earth can cook better than my mother…. to even think someone else’s food was ok sounded like betrayal.  Finally, I ended up working for Food Craft Institute, where we trained students to be chefs, waiters, housekeepers, receptionists, canners and Bakers.

Thank God for that job – every day our students prepared the best of foods from around the world with over 150 different menu items – you name it, French, German, Italian, Indonesian, Chinese, Thai, Middle Eastern, British, American and of course Indian. Then I was in Saudi Arabia, and on our campus we had 10 major dining facilities including Turkish, Filipino, Korean, Indonesian, Somali, Indian, Arab and of course American.  I am pleased with my tasted bud; it’s my buddy and enjoys all the great foods.

I learned that my Mother’s food will always be home to me, meaning, I would crave for it any time and all the times, but my horizons expanded and inclusion of other enjoyable foods became part of my repertoire.

Thus the idea of Pluralism in food came about. It’s about de-limiting, and it is about removing barriers toward different foods. We should be able to enjoy every food that is out there, of course with personal and societal restrictions – like I cannot eat cheese due to lactose intolerance and pork due to my religious preference.

Ha, I am disappointed in myself, I thought I was accepting of God’s creation in its full glory – but my body is not pluralistic – it’s intolerant towards Cheese that I love, but cannot eat.  I am glad to be imperfect.

What about you?

...............................................................................................................................
Mike Ghouse is a speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism, politics, peace, Islam, Israel, India, interfaith, and cohesion at work place. He is committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day at www.TheGhousediary.com. He believes in Standing up for others and a book with the same title is coming up. Mike has a strong presence on national and local TV, Radio and Print Media. He is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he contributes weekly to the Texas Faith Column at Dallas Morning News; fortnightly at Huffington post; and several other periodicals across the world. His personal site www.MikeGhouse.net indexes all his work through many links.