2. The Importance of Eating together

In her article, Cody C. Delistraty explains the importance of setting apart a time in the day to eat a meal with loved ones. The author used an example of when she lived at home with her dad and they started to eat dinner together. She explains how eating dinner with her father was a therapeutic experience because she was able to reflect each day and have someone to talk to. Delistraty mentions how these meals with her father led them to discuss serious issues, and even bring up painful memories or subjects. The author believes that eating as a family can have both physical and psychological effects on people. It has been proven that most Americans only eat one meal with their families per week! Delistraty found this fact a sad reality and wrote her desire that all families could have the bonding moments of eating and sharing time together.

The main device the author uses to express her point is her own experiences with family dinners; dinner with her father became her favorite part of the day, a time where they could reflect memories and issues together. Another device that Delistraty uses are the experiments that have been done all around the world about kids doing better in school because of family dinners, and about how many average Americans actually eat meals with their families. The author uses her own experiences and the proof of these tests to convey the importance of eating together. This article is very informative and has experimental proof which leads the reader to believe that family dinners are better both physically and mentally for both kids and adults. Delistraty is also very convincing in her article becaause of the use of her own experiences. The author also uses ideas from different books including Eating Together, and A Book of Mediterranean food. Delistraty mentions how there is scientific proof of people being healthier as a result of eating together at a slow pace. The author wraps up the article by remembering a special moment she had had with her father, and by subtly stating that each member is a key tool to making a family function.