The Breakfast Series, 1

The Breakfast Series, 1

When I say “breakfast,” what’s the first thing that comes to mind? An omelet with green peppers, onions, and sausage? Yogurt over granola and fresh peaches? Zucchini bread with peanut butter and apple slices? Or maybe you were thinking more along the lines of a bowl of whole-grain cereal splashed with milk? A granola bar with coffee? Or maybe just the coffee? How about hitting the drive through and grabbing a doughnut and coffee to go? Forget it, I don’t even have time for breakfast.

We’ve all heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but what exactly is a breakfast? Go ahead, try to define it. Is it hot? Is it cold? Is it a liquid or a solid? Is it even a meal? Are we always breaking a fast when we eat breakfast? What time is breakfast? What is breakfast? I haven’t figured out the answers, but I do know that I have a whole lot of questions about “the most important meal of the day.” I want to learn about what it is, when it started, and how it has evolved in America, a society elbow deep in health problems and mangled food systems.

So, I decided the best place to start is right here on the Know Your Farms intern blog. Now, it’s a lot to bite off in one chew so I’m going to take the questions nibble by nibble. I will ask a question each day about the history of breakfast, the evolution of breakfast, breakfast in modern society, breakfast in other cultures, and so on in an attempt to learn more about what breakfast is. In addition to reflecting on the question of the day, I will also track what I eat for breakfast and record any interesting information I come across through research, conversation, or observation.

So stay tuned to get the “snap, crackle, and pop” about what this ritual is all about. Keep up with the blog while wasting time on facebook, when you’re dying to learn about how Seventh-Day Adventists revolutionized breakfast, or over your morning coffee. This post should be ready by breakfast time.