Do we have as many meals around the dining room table as we used to–together as families and friends, enjoying good company and conversation as well as good food? Most observers of contemporary culture tell us “no”, not in today’s frenetic urban societies where everyone’s burners are habitually locked on high. Yet, research shows that table talk is important for childhood educational development and a social and psychological anchor for all who join in the experience. For those reasons, we should be concerned that a study released by UNICEF, incorporating data from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, revealed that Canadian children rank near the bottom relative to those in other developed countries when it comes to frequently eating their main meal of the day with their parents and also regularly talking with them. As a result they are at higher risk of becoming obese, and of engaging in such high risk behaviour as drug and alcohol abuse.

At the Table, Nourishing Conversation and Food is a celebration of families and friends, eating and talking around the table, and subtly reveals at the same time the benefits of doing so. From a comical brush with the KGB to the capers of an eccentric climber in the Himalayas, it is a collection of unusual, entertaining and informative tales shared at tables in many locales. It also includes family recipes that are relatively simple to prepare, usually healthy, and always tasty.

When you finish this book, you’ll want to get out your neglected bottle of lemon oil, give your thirsty old table a rub, and then call everyone to dinner.

To order this book, please go to: www.penumbrapress.com/book.php?id=360