The Double-Edged Sword

by Mark R. Vogel

I finally got fed up with the mouse droppings in my kitchen. Time had proved that the little varmint was not a transient visitor. No more Mr. Nice Guy.

Mickey's day of reckoning had come. Employing a humane mousetrap baited with a medley of cereal grains, I had the fecal-dispersing vermin incarcerated in no time.

And before you animal crusaders out there flood me with outraged e-mails, I released his furry little butt unharmed, in a wooded area a few miles away.

OK so where am I going with this? The point is that I was able to capture this elusive and nimble little critter, because he needed to eat. Except maybe for an opposite sex mouse at the right biological time, nothing else could compel a rodent to enter a mousetrap.

Much like humans, one of our greatest biological needs, which can be one of life's simplest pleasures, can also be one of our greatest vulnerabilities.

It is absurdly obvious to state that we would perish without food. Nothing short of air is so immediately necessary for our survival. (I'm including water under the rubric of "food").

Even after a full meal, it's just a matter of hours until our body signals us for additional energy. If you think about it, we encounter the very earliest phase of starvation every day of our lives, i.e. that first hunger pang.

And while it is necessary for life, food can also be dangerous. It can be spoiled with innumerable forms of microorganisms or toxins. Individuals have died choking on food.

Ironically, the very substance needed to sustain life, can terminate it. Moreover, much like my unwanted house guest, the quest for food can bring us into peril.

Anything that is mandatory for existence can drive an organism to risk danger for its acquisition. Although this is far less true in the modern era, one can only speculate how many early humans died prematurely in accidents, acts of nature, or as food themselves in their search for sustenance.

Conversely, eating is inherently pleasurable. When we eliminate modern society's impediments to food, we are left with a fundamentally satisfying endeavor.

Via a combination of sensual stimulation and life preservation, taking in nourishment is innately gratifying and fulfills us on our most primitive level.

Mankind has irrevocably intertwined food into most of its festive, familial, spiritual and social events. It's unheard of for any holiday, family get-together, or celebration of one of life's milestones to be performed in the absence of food and drink.

Food is a celebration of life and will eternally be linked with the joyous moments of our existence.

Maybe it's precisely because food, or a lack there of, can spell our demise that we have so thoroughly woven it into the fabric of our social existence.