Were the attitudes about food and diet in daily life drastically different?
Meals are about celebration, mindfulness and rituals. Food is the glue that binds the community. It brings the families together every day and for feasts. They eat a lot more modestly every day, and a feast is a blowout occasion. Here in America we’re taking in the calories of a feast on a daily basis but without the enjoyment or celebration. Often we do this alone, at our desks, in front of the TV or in our cars. The average American family eats together fewer than four times a week. Q: Were there any assumptions about indigenous diets that were smashed? A: I think most people consider a healthy diet to be a traditional Mediterranean diet that’s high in vegetables, relatively low in fat and high in fish. This is true. Yet I visited areas where the diet was radically different from this. Some diets were higher in carbohydrates, others higher in fats and animal proteins. But they were just as healthy. There are so many different ways to eat healthy, and they’re all valid. In Iceland, fo
