EP Business in Hospitality Issue 53 - April 2015

Traditional values | Feature
BREAKING BREAD
In association with the Chefs Adopt a School charity
Getty Images
The importance of great
food, great conversation,
and acknowledging that
hospitality sits at
the heart of daily life
Over the last year, there has been
a common theme of a move back
towards old-fashioned values. EP
has often written about this trend, but it can
be seen in all walks of life – from Barclays’
LifeSkills campaign to the drive for a
balanced diet and well-being.
It is clear that modern life combines the
speed of present day information flow with
a desire for a return to old-fashioned social
values that involve the importance of the
community, local crafts and shops and the
need to set time aside to sit together socially
and eat and talk. Hospitality does sit so
centrally at the heart of our lives – and
arguably more so than ever before.
Two of the most common comments we
receive are:
We need to make food more central to our
lives and for people to understand the
importance of good food.
It is very important for people to just
spend some time sitting down to a meal
and socially interacting – whether at home
over dinner, at school or the workplace.
More and more people are snacking,
eating at their desks, eating in front of the
television or eating while listening to their
iPods, and it is not healthy.
This theme ties in with many of the
central ideas that run through discussions
EP has had in all sectors of the industry.
Today, emails start arriving at 6am, texts
from about 6.30am and it all seems to go on
until about 9pm in the evening. We are all
eternally accessible through email, mobile,
LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter – and the
rest. Communication is constant and time to
just stop and think is almost non-existent.
In some ways, it is impressive how
just everyone has adapted to the speed of
modern life, but no one seems to have time
to just stop and think/reflect. There surely
needs to be a better balance?
Add in a few other facts:
The average working days has increased
by 15% in the last decade
Executives read 30% more data each day
Decision-making time has fallen by 45%
There is a danger that it all becomes a
bit ‘preachy’, but the truth is that hospitality
sits centrally in everyone’s lives one way or
another, and maybe the industry can work to
promote the importance of great food and
taking the time to just sit, reflect and talk?
In a sense, hospitality has never had a better
opportunity to promote its attributes by
promoting good social practice.
The counter and confirmation is the rise
of eating out as part of our social lives.
People do eat out more often but it is often
casual dining. This shows the central role
that hospitality plays in everyone’s lives.
The question is has this increased
frequency taken away from the meaning
that an evening out used to have? Are
we conscious of the time that we are
spending with others – or has this just
become another automated process?
This can reach all corners of daily life
– schools, workplace, hotels, restaurants,
pubs and more. Just 15 minutes a day to
sit, talk and reflect with some good food
would be a step forward for many.
It may be an old-fashioned ideal, but
it’s one that is as important today as ever.
“
Just 15 minutes a day to sit, talk and reflect with
some good food would be a step forward for many
”
epmagazine.co.uk | 7