Rob Rhinehart, an entrepreneur living in San Francisco, became fed up with the cost and time put into preparing and eating meals.
To solve his problem, Rhinehart created a mixture he calls “Soylent,” which contains “35 nutrients required for survival.” For an entire month, Rhinehart drank his blended drink of nutrients in lieu of having regular meals.
Rhinehart has received much media attention, from the likes of The Colbert Report and The New York Times.
On Rhinehart’s blog, “How I Stopped Eating Food,” he said he had even more energy drinking Soylent than when he ate regular meals. Rhinehart said it made him full and that he even craved it sometimes, preferring it to regular meals. He claims he physically felt and looked better and healthier after his month-long trial.
I sure hope more people don’t find themselves too busy to prepare meals or think it’s too much of a hassle.
In the promotional video for Soylent on Rhinehart’s website, where the mix is available for purchase, a woman is depicted being able to keep working on her laptop while at her job. She drinks Soylent to nourish herself instead of taking the time to get a meal or bring one to work.
Sure, people are busy with their work and everyday lives, but taking the time to eat a meal is not only necessary, but it gives a person time to take a break and refuel. I wouldn’t want to go through a long workday without going to get food and having a break.
Soylent’s website asks, “What if you never had to worry about food again?”
Worry about food? I enjoy food and cooking. I look forward to cooking for myself, and make it a social event with friends when we have time. I like to put thought into what I choose to eat and make healthy, tasty decisions.
Of course, sometimes I, as well as many others, have a limited timeframe and have to settle with fast food over something a little healthier, but I still enjoy eating.
Growing up, my family tried as often as it could to sit down and eat dinner together. We weren’t able to every night, of course, but we’d try to eat together as often as possible.
I know that sitting down for dinner with my family and having the chance to enjoy a good meal brought us closer together. It gave us a chance to spend time with each other and helped us to communicate with one another. I have great memories of being little and having meals made by my parents, and us all talking about how our days went.
It doesn’t seem good to me that people can think of eating as just a hassle and would want to replace it with this new product. I’d hate for people to lose the sense of communication and time for interaction that sitting down for a meal with family or friends provides.
In an article titled, “8 reasons to make time for family dinner,” CNNreported that a study done by researchers at Brigham Young University found that sitting down for family dinner helped parents relieve their stress from work.
I don’t even want to think of how boring it would be to drink this liquid instead of eating a good sandwich, fresh vegetables or the occasional cheeseburger. I hope more people don’t feel they’re so busy that they have to look for an alternative to taking the time to eat.
Food does not hold just a utilitarian purpose in our lives. It helps us connect and relax and experiment with tastes. Yes, we need nutrients to survive, and Soylent can help with that, but it will never replace the importance of food in our lives.
