When Food Means More Than a Good Meal

8/23/07
Today I made an elementary Obento. A bento, for those of you that don’t know is a lunch box Japanese mothers make for their nursery age school children. In Japanese culture, this lunch box is much more than a mere supply of nourishment. On the physical level, through the labor intensive and time consuming process this lunch box represents a mother’s love for her child. On the metaphorical level, it symbolizes the perfection the child should strive for during his life. In the upper echelons of Japanese society every aspect of life is so competitive that these lunch boxes are haute cuisine. Take a minute and try to remember what your lunch looked like when you were in nursery school. Can you picture it? I know that I can’t. But I can guess; a peanut butter and jelly sandwich sliced into triangles with the crust cut off, an apple juice box, a small container of apple slices and perhaps a string cheese. Nothing took very much preparation time, lots of items were pre packaged- grab and go. In my world, everything is about efficiency. I remember how jealous I was when my friends had lunchables in their lunch. I am hesitant to make any comparisons between them and Bentos but that was the first thing that came to mind. When lunchables, the ultimate portable snack were all the craze they were a status of “coolness”. Just as the women who creates the bentos are graded for their presentation the child who eats all of his in a timely way is praised. They are regarded with admiration and used as a model to which everyone should aspire. What is it about American society that needs to change? How can we feel good about ourselves and the lunches American school age children eat when Japanese mothers create labor-intensive miniature masterpieces daily with scrupulous effort? Often times parents showed their love for their children in other ways. I remember a lot of kids would get messages, pictures or inside jokes written on their napkins or on their paper bag lunches. Although it does not hold the weight of an Obento, it is a step in the right direction. In the article by Ann Allison titled, Japanese Mothers and Obentos: The Lunch Box as Ideological State Apparatus, she comments on how the Obentos have become a symbol of moving into the real world. I like that notion. That the very basic thing we need to survive is our entryway into an entirely new realm of possibilities and obligations.

So here are two pictures of my Obento.