“Enjoying food is something most people take for granted but it can be a fraught issue for disabled people. Food lover Mike Shamash reflects on the reasons why.”
“There are academics who would argue that the human being’s skill in cooking food of using fire to change the taste and texture of raw food is what distinguishes human beings from any other species. Cookbooks are bestsellers and chefs are media stars but as disabled people we may often appear to be rendered invisible by this process.
“As well as being a vital part of life, food is also a rather inclusive activity. Eating is a sedentary, sensuous experience open to all comers. Cooking is only slightly less so. Why then is no mention made of disabled people on cookery programmes?
“There are a range of factors. Disabled people have tight financial budgets and can feel uncomfortable in an environment that says ‘you don’t belong here’, thereby creating a self-fulfilling prophesy of disabled people unwilling to eat out. We often have to filter eating through the historical mist of institutionalisation, eating horrible food in a bleak environment at a time not of your choosing.”
Click here to read this disabilitynow.org.uk article in its entirety.
