I want food to be safe, and this can be tricky. Food can be a trigger for many different reasons. Body dysmorphia, eating disorders, a family history of food or the lack thereof being used as a tool of control – food can be a minefield. Keeping this in mind, I want to start things off with a few thoughts about how I’ll be approaching food in this space and how I want to make it safe.

This is a snob free zone. I want everything to come back to a fundamental reality of food that is so often forgotten: taste is subjective. Completely. Thus, there is no “wrong” or “right”, there is no “better” or “worse”, there is how you like it. If you want to drink a Cabernet Sauvignon with your raw oysters, get down with your bad self. Don’t let anyone tell you that the way you like your steak cooked renders too much fat and ruins the texture, or that the beer you’re enjoying is inferior to a smaller-batch brand.  If you’re enjoying it, it’s literally the best thing in the world right then.

Food is for you. You know better than anyone what your likes and dislikes are, and how certain foods make you feel. Listen to your body. Do what makes you feel better physically, emotionally, and mentally. That includes having fun. Have fun! Build memories and positive association around food. Tastes and smells can bring back memories decades later, start building those experiences today. Eat with friends. Eat with your family. Eat by yourself. It doesn’t matter, as long as you’re eating for you.

– Michael Benavidez, editor

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