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Love on the Rockies: The food factor
Contributed by: Allyson Reedy on 10/18/2006

I really like food. It's probably what I get the most pleasure from in life. Yes, even above that. Don't pity me; food and I live quite blissfully together. Luckily, my boyfriend isn't the jealous type.

Food is so powerful to those of us who cultivate the culinary that I believe it could make or break a relationship. So many movies - Like Water for Chocolate, Soul Food, Chocolat, etc. - praise food for bringing people together, but could it also tear them apart?

I'm not talking about McDonald's here - although if you eat there too frequently "bigger" problems could end your relationship. But could you trust someone who won't try truffles? Love someone who doesn't live for lobster?

I probably just lost several of you, but for my fellow food fanatics, imagine my predicament when I learned a potential date wouldn't eat Asian food. That's a deal breaker right there. Clearly we could only be friends -at best.

Guys, what if you were dating Nicole Richie? OK, maybe that's a bad example because you'd get to finish her plate. But what if she was a vegetarian? Or the unthinkable - a vegan!

My first serious boyfriend was a vegetarian. As hard as it was for me to wrap my mind around the fact that he had never eaten a Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich(!), it lasted for a few years. I should have known the relationship was doomed, though. Tofurkey at Thanksgiving, hamless Hawaiian pizza and not being able to order the fajitas for two didn't make for a happy Allyson.

When the two of you eat is important as well. When my friend Chris came home the other night, his girlfriend, Kim, announced that they either eat dinner then and there or she was moving out. When it comes to food,patience is not a virtue. I myself have shed tears over not being able to open a jar of salsa.

For me, food can enhance or destroy a moment, an experience, or even a feeling. Take models. There's a reason they look so angry all the time - they're hungry! What if that was your partner? I don't know about you, but I get mean when I'm hungry. Models' boyfriends must live in a constant state of fear.

If a partner has too great a love for food, than can be bad for a foodie like me as well. For example, my boyfriend and I each took home our thai leftovers. The next day I finished mine and, Thai being at the top of my food hierarchy, I had to eat my boyfriend's too.

I know I shouldn't have, but it's thai - all rules are out the window.

While he wasn't happy about my curry carnage, because he doesn't see Thai food as the eighth wonder of the world like myself, he didn't have the reaction I would have had. Which, of course, would involve putting his fork in a very uncomfortable spot.
While this all may sound extreme, I'm not alone.

In a 1995 poll, 70 percent of women said they preferred chocolate to sex. When asked which was the most important factor in their happiness, women answered once again that food tops sex (men, however, did not).

I think I might be onto something. It's not a coincidence that all those Hollywood relationships ended right around the peak of the Atkins craze. I would hope my partner has the sense to leave me if I ever give up pasta.

To paraphrase a recent quote by Mary-Louise Parker, "All two people need in common are sex, food and vacation destinations."


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Showing 1-3 of 3 comments
Submitted By: Allyson Reedy
posted on 10/20/2006 @ 2:45:01 PM
(Not Rated)
Hating mayonnaise is a definite plus.
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Submitted By: Kevin Murcray
posted on 10/20/2006 @ 1:13:56 PM
Rated Story
Interesting. So would my deep aversion to mayonaise and sour cream just have me sleeping on the couch, or would I be thrown out of the house completely?
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Submitted By: Jessica Lara
posted on 10/19/2006 @ 1:31:37 PM
Rated Story
completely agree. While I'm a bit hard to please food-wise for a variety of reasons, I once knew this guy who I thought was pretty close to perfect - great personality and I just loved being around him. But I couldn't get past the fact that he was 29 years old and probably hadn't tried more than a handful of fruits & veggies in his life, not to mention other foods. This *honestly* was my only issue with him. He lived for pepperoni pizza and hamburgers, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that these are the only two meals he ate - day after day. I wondered how anyone could be in a long term relationship with him. Ironically, he had divorced at 24 and never had another girlfriend that I knew about. Obviously this is an extreme case, but I wouldn't be able to date a vegetarian either.
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Showing 1-3 of 3 comments
CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Allyson Reedy

Littleton , CO

Allyson Reedy has posted 46 stories and 23 comments since joining on 6/13/2006. Allyson Reedy 's average story rating is 4.88.
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