This post was updated on January 11, 2024.
We very deliberately stay away from controversial topics on this site. There are plenty of places on the internet where you can hear and voice opinions on politics, religion, and all the other topics that get people riled up. We started The Cook and The Writer to share our love of good food, good stories, interesting places, and memorable experiences.
We believe that food, especially when shared, brings us together like no other experience. The simple act of sitting together and sharing a meal gives us a chance to meet our most basic need for nourishment of the body and the soul. Sitting side-by-side at a table with good food, good wine and good company can free us from the momentary concerns of the day and allow us to honestly and completely connect with the other humans around us.
And when we write about food, we do so from a particular perspective. We are Western, privileged, and by global standards, affluent. We celebrate food. Sometimes in ways that appear excessive.
Our experience, and maybe yours, too, is in stark contrast to that of millions of other people in our world. According to the United Nations World Food Programme, over 780 million people go to bed hungry every night. This includes 47 million people – men, women, and children – in 54 countries who are on the edge of famine.
Again this year (2024) we have made a donation to the World Food Programme in honor of you – our friends and family. We hope it will make a small difference.
In a world where we can celebrate food, no one should go hungry. During this season of giving, please consider making a donation to the WFP, or to your local food panty.
Yours for a world free from hunger,
Mary and Mike
The Cook and The Writer
I thank you quite sincerely for including this link. I was speaking to a former Cummins cook last night, discussing his incredible talent. I mentioned my fondness for Mimi Sheraton’s book, my new obsession with cooking, and the fact that I now have five types of salt in my cabinet. I plan to dial back my Amazon purchasing in 2022, and I like the idea that my less will be someone else’s more.
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Nan
Thanks, Nan!