Don't be a loner, celebrate National Eat Dinner Together Week

by Marisa McClellan, Posted Sep 17th 2007 @ 5:43PM

Until I hit high school, my family ate dinner together nearly every night. I'm talking TV off, table set, glasses of milk, hands held for a moment of silence, dinner. I feel really lucky to have grown up with such a foundation of family meals and someday when I have kids, I hope to give them the same experience.

Both studies and common sense tell us that eating communally it good for us, so someone out there went and declared this week (September 16-22) National Eat Dinner Together Week. Sponsored by the National Pork Board (who oddly situated it in the middle of the Jewish High Holidays*) it is a good reminder to clear off the table, make a pot of soup, a roasted chicken or a stop at your local prepared foods market and sit down with your friends and family.

*The Jewish side of my family is highly secular. They don't think twice about eating pork products most of the year, but even they try to avoid them during the High Holidays. Seems like an odd choice on the part of the Pork Board.

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Filed Under: On the Blogs
Tags: america, dinner, families, food, friends, meals, National Eat Dinner Together Week, National Pork Board, NationalEatDinnerTogetherWeek

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

9-17-2007 @8:35PM MJ said... I grew up the same way dinner at 6pm. Milk with each meal, one soda on sAturdays. The good old days. Now if we sit together on Christmas morning it seems an odd thing!People are much too busy with work and everything else. Lets bring family back to first
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9-17-2007 @9:41PM melissa.agnew said... Meh. I'm single. I live alone. I like it that way.
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9-17-2007 @11:35PM Ira.B said... Even if I just make hamburgers and we only sit together for 10 minutes, I think eating together several times a week is important. And yes, we all go back to homework and whatever we couldn't finish at the office right after. But imagine if we didn't even try?

http://malemartha.blogspot.com
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9-18-2007 @11:11AM jsmylie said... As I get older and move from a packed house to a small apartment filled with people who don't like to cook, I eat communally less often; we want to spend time at the dinner table together, but it's always easier to just make a sandwich than slave in the kitchen and create dishes none of the roommates want to wash. Hopefully this week will change that!
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9-18-2007 @1:30PM Adriane said... I am also one of the lucky ones that sat down for dinner together pretty much every single night. Sharing "the joys of the table" has always been important to my family and we often shared this love with others. Family friends would "mistakenly" stop by around dinner to eat with us. I don't believe it was just the wonderful food my mom cooked up that garnered so many nightly visiters, but rather the sense of community and belonging to be found. I often miss the full table when I sit down to eat alone in my single apartment.
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9-18-2007 @12:47PM Julie said... Family dinners are what enrich us and mold us into social beings. We had a set dinner time each night and every sunday we all converged at grandma and grandpa's house for dinner.That has alot to do with the inspiration behind my blog, Please stop by and visit anytime.
http://www.noshtalgia.blogspot.com/
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