By James Lowell Healthy Lion reporters | Medical experts and a cafeteria chef all agree: Sharing a meal is a way to connect with people, have conversations, and explore different cultures.
When you eat meals with your friends and family, it’s not just about hanging out together, it’s a way to share food and connect, according to the website Duke Health & Well Being.
Food can also connect people to different cultures. “Respecting and embracing different food traditions fosters inclusivity and deepens understanding,” said psychologist Paul Rozin in an article for the American Psychological Association.
Mrs. Raven West, a chef and a Clearview Regional High School cafeteria worker, has seen firsthand how food connects people.
“Trying new recipes from friends and other families, having conversations, hanging out with your family friends, trying different foods from different cultures, and to fuel our body to stay healthy,” are the benefits of connecting through food, said Mrs. West.
In an interview with fourth-grade Healthy Lion reporters in Ms. Albright’s homeroom, Mrs. West said she didn’t originally want to become a chef—she was in school to be a nurse.
She said she decided to become a chef when she was walking by the culinary school and would smell the food.
In her cafeteria job, Mrs. West preps the meals, cooks the food, and keeps the production sheets, which involves counting how many meals are given out in the day.
Food can benefit people’s health by “eating healthy food to give us energy to help fuel our bodies when doing activities like different sports,” said Mrs. West.
Mrs. West has seen people connect by sharing food that she’s made and trying different foods from other cultures. It’s also a good time to sit down and have conversations with friends and family, she says.
Mrs. West said she has also seen ways kids use food to connect with others by sharing food, having conversations, and trying different foods.
When Mrs. West cooks and sees people trying her food, it makes her very happy to see if what she made was good. She says that’s her favorite way to connect with others through her food. Her hope is that people will be open to trying new foods from different cultures.
Illustration by Sophia, 4th grade, Lowell, 2025-26.
