Pause, reflect and enjoy.

Just a word or two about dining etiquette.
This is not a feature about which fork to use when, or how to observe established protocols of dress, conversation or procedure when dining with officers of the mess or members of the nobility.
No, I believe it is actually quite important to eat with some degree of reverence. Such an attitude may appear somewhat archaic, but I am convinced that since we are not savages we should actually take some degree of composure and reverence while eating.
To eat is a profound event after all. We consume organic lifeforms to gain nutrients and succor to strengthen and improve our wellbeing. Whether it is a vegetable, a fruit, nut, fungi, a fish, bird or mammal, we owe a degree of respect to honour what has been sacrificed for our development.

Look at aboriginal people for instance: they have a healthy respect for the land and the Earth (often seen as our mother) who provides for our needs, they choose not to take more than they need - aware that tomorrow shouldn't be taken for granted, they see our food as a gift - not as an inexaustable supply to be taken for granted and that in the end we all return to the earth so this must be respected and treated as the most precious resource we have.
Anyone who has tried to grow veggies and failed will know how much energy, care and well...luck is involved in gaining a harvest. How much more do you enjoy those lovely little cherry tomatoes? How much better do those raspberries taste? How painful is it to care for and nurture those exotic lettuces only to find them munched by slimy midnight raiders ahead of your proud Sunday lunch with your friends? Yes, we've all been there.
The Chinese eat a mouthful of plain rice before tucking into the tasty morsels as a way of reminding themselves of the humility we should remember. We are only a couple of meals away from going hungry after all.
And what about a Christian viewpoint on food? Consuming bread and wine is a symbol of Christ's body and blood which was given as a sacrifice for us. Pretty powerful don't you think!

I worked on a banana plantation in Queensland and we had to run barefoot through the plantation with a 50kg bunch of bananas on our swollen, sore shoulders to deposit our precious cargo in the trailer to be processed and shipped overseas. It was dangerous (on several occasions I barely avoided skidding under the wheels of the tractor), painful and a poorly paid job constantly accompanied by verbal abuse and with the ever-present threat of swinging cane knives, poisonous snakes, spiders and scorpions. Now, whenever I eat a banana, whether from Queensland, Puerto Rico or the Philippines I always think of where it came from and I'm grateful for all that it's taken to get that banana.
But anyway, I reckon we should all remember what we have when we eat. Cherish those quiet moments when we eat.
Even if you have your dinner while watching the tele, care about what you eat and how you eat. Put your knife and fork down every now and then while you become aware of the food you are eating, the taste you enjoy, the contribution it will add to your life. Your digestion will be better too.
The opposite of such an attitude is to see people smoking outside office buildings in the rain while stuffing a plastic sandwich into their mouths. This can't be good for your digestion or happiness. It upsets me even to see such uncivilised sights!
No, to eat our choice every day is a real privilege and we should never forget how lucky we are.