Feast of Eden

Sharing food is a nearly exclusive human concept, or so Martin Jones explains in his book, Feast. Outside of parents & children and a few primates, sharing food is an anomaly. Actually, for most species throwing food in the middle of hungry adults and encouraging eye contact is a recipe for a blood bath rather than a pleasant dinner party and in the animal kingdom and that kind of fighting isn’t precipitated by 3 martinis at the beginning of the meal.

For homo sapiens’ close relative, the bonobo (we share 98% similar genetic material), food gathering and sharing is a complex issue: like humans bonobos live in extended clans, communicate with each other via noise and gesture, use tools to collect food, they hunt other animals in groups and gather food individually. It isn't the primate's similarities to humans that make headlines; as a species they are rather famous for their mating activity. In published studies, bonobos appear to be less discriminating about sexual partners than drunken sophomores attending Big Ten Universities (no offense to bonobos, who with the power of speech, could probably explain their behavior). Bonobos use food as an enticement and prelude for sex. Granted, they also employ sex to mediate disagreements and reconcile bad feelings – what we humans call make-up sex. And it doesn't stop there, among bonobos, sex is a common greeting and a general socialization activity - customs that really don’t exist in human behavior outside of campus dorms located in Madison.

So why do we share food? Is it our omnivorous nature? Omnivores tend to be isolated into groups or packs. Is food sharing a result of the amount of time it takes our progeny to become sufficient? Do we share because communication allows us to organize and work together – what recent research has suggested is a sharing gene. Is sharing all about sex/reproduction/clan/survival? Or is it something that is both more complex and simple; that sharing food helps builds trust, mitigates disagreements and provides more advantages for survival than fighting for food.

As fun as it is to ponder these bigger questions, it is not the macro-implications of food sharing that are as interesting as the scaled down applications. Maybe it is because Valentine’s Day approaching, possibly it is a more personal interest because one of the few ways I can woo someone is not with my charismatic personality or worldly material success, but I sometimes feel it is only by cooking and sharing food I can truly connect with that special someone.

While that just might be inner bonobo thinking, but the part that food plays in courtship is a fascinating subject around here. Saucyman is asking readers to share stories of food and love. Tell us about the meal has that reinforced the bonds of love, extended a romance or maybe even possibly helped seduced? Share your story with Saucyman in the comments section or via email. I will cull the responses and publish them in time for Valentine’s Day next week.

Names of people, not food, will be changed to protect the innocent.