One of the very greatest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating. – Luciano Pavorotti and William Wright in “Pavorotti, My Own Story.”
Most people find dining a pleasurable experience. In fact, the sharing of a meal is considered one of the most efficacious means of enhancing the status of a relationship. But, what to eat? Pasta, Chinese Food, seafood, or perhaps the selection might be American fare. The choice of what specific food to eat on any given day is almost always made by the individual who will be eating the meal. The only exceptions to the previous sentence might be when one is a child and, essentially, too young to determine what to eat and/or when one is at a dinner party with a pre-established menu.
There are some who hold that American Citizens’ actions should be entirely governed by the parameters set forth in the U.S. Constitution and, to an extent, I concur. The form of government, manner in which leaders are elected, powers held by each of the three branches of Government and parameters under which citizens enjoy liberty are, each and every one, delineated within the Constitution. Were one to do a word search of the Constitution, neither “eat” or any derivatives thereof would be found. Importantly, however, every right or limitation of rights, within the Constitution is not directly ennumerated, thus the absence of a specific word does not mean that the topic is left undefined.
In reviewing the rights granted within the Bill of Rights, the basic statement, which has withstood well over two hundred years, is that there are certain “inalienable” rights; that among these are “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” While any number of persons might differently interpret the aforementioned rights differently, I believe there can be no dispute that eating falls under each one of the so-termed “inalienable rights” – life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Precisely, the body cannot be sustained without food; without eating; given liberty is defined as “right to choose: the freedom to think or act without being constrained by necessity or force,” it naturally follows that the Founding Fathers intended citizens to possess liberty with regard to the selection of food and finally, selecting food one enjoys falls under the auspice of “pursuit of happiness.”
If the Constitution indeed makes any statement regarding to the choice of what an American citizen may eat, it is “eat as you desire.”