Everyone has to eat to live – a cliché, I know. Yet for some people food is almost the meaning of life, and for others an unpleasant necessity. I’m not writing here only about eating disorders, and that is not today’s topic. Today you will read about how food can be a value and a motivator in our lives. We don’t always notice it, but food can be a motivator that organises our private time, our work and even our holidays perfectly.
There are people who take an exotic cookbook to the toilet instead of a comic; who, when planning a holiday, first check in apps which restaurants are on the way, how they are rated and what they serve. These people can stand at the stove all weekend trying to cook something delicious, or drive two hours each way to taste something good in a famous restaurant. If this seems exaggerated and abstract to you, you probably belong to the second group – people who would rather eat instant noodles from a cup than wait an hour for a lavish dinner in a restaurant.
On Shalom Schwartz’s circle of values, food is close to hedonism – the pursuit of pleasure – a value typically focused on the self and concerned with growth. Hedonism can have two dimensions: openness to change and curiosity in seeking sensations, and self-enhancement and fulfilling one’s own needs. Hedonism is directly adjacent to stimulation and achievement. Its opposite value is humility, equivalent to moderation and modesty.
In Józef Kozielecki’s work, food can be found in the concept of Dionysian values. Dionysus was known for pleasure, feasting and hedonistic tendencies. Dionysian values include instincts, emotions, irrationality and unlimited expression of life. This group of values takes its name from Dionysus, or Bacchus (his Roman name), the god of wine and drunkenness.
In the career anchors, food can be traced only to the lifestyle anchor. Edgar Schein, however, did not address this issue specifically.
For Steven Reiss, eating is one of the 16 values in the Reiss Motivation Profile. Its biological source is the will to survive, although today it appears more in a cultural sense. Reiss describes eating as the need to enjoy meals. On one side are people with a high need for eating, which means food is important to them. They value good-quality meals and celebrating them. At the other end of the continuum are people for whom eating is a necessity to avoid hunger. Food doesn’t play a major role for them, and they treat it somewhat casually.
How to recognise people for whom a high need for eating is a motivator?
They like to plan what they will eat, when and where, or what they will cook themselves; they plan shopping lists and cooking time in detail.
Going out to a restaurant is a reward for them.
Sometimes it is hard for them to resist another helping or trying something they haven’t tried yet.
They often think about what they will eat at the next meal and plan it.
They choose their holiday trips according to the cuisine; they are sometimes culinary tourists.
How to recognise people for whom a low need for eating is a motivator?
They eat less than the average person, don’t savour food and can eat in passing.
They sometimes forget about hunger and the need to eat.
They eat on the run and often whatever is to hand.
When they do sit down at the table, they eat the first dish that comes along; they don’t care what is on the plate as long as it is quick and satisfies their hunger.
What to do to satisfy a strong need for eating?
They value having proper time set aside for meals, and fixed mealtimes are important to them. They pay attention to food quality and won’t eat just anything, especially if it looks bad. They won’t accept eating on the go, in the car or at a roadside snack bar. If they are invited to long meetings, it is important that meal breaks are planned. They will be delighted to go out to a good restaurant. If they have the chance to work in the HoReCa sector or in something food-related, they will enjoy it. Build a well-equipped kitchen at work, where food lovers can not only partly prepare their meals but also eat them in pleasant surroundings. They will also appreciate fruit and drinks at work.
What to do to satisfy a low need for eating?
Don’t force them to rave about food, and don’t start discussions about the superiority of sheep’s cheese over goat’s cheese – it’s all the same to them, and they will quickly get bored. They probably won’t work in a food-related industry. They will be interested in quick meals, instant food and boxes they can heat up and eat quickly at their desk. Choosing the menu as a group will annoy them, and long meal breaks will feel like a waste of time.
How do people who need good food see those who don’t?
People with a strong need for eating consider themselves gourmets who know about food and can cook. They look at others as people leading an unhealthy, rushed lifestyle who don’t respect their bodies.
People with a low need for eating think of themselves as healthy, slim and strong-willed, using their time efficiently and free of mundane worries. They look at food lovers as gluttons without willpower, and sometimes even as culinary snobs.
A need or value is not a competency.
A love of food and knowledge of nutrition are two different things. A food lover doesn’t necessarily eat healthily, although they may think they do. And people who don’t value food may sensibly choose healthy products, aware of the macronutrients in their diet and their impact on health. On a diet, one will dream of pizza, while the other will find another incentive to stick to it. This need is important at work in terms of how the workplace and conditions are organised. It is worth keeping in mind.
