Food, Mental Health, Identity, and Community Building in Italy

Published 12/08/2023 in Scholar Travel Stipend

Written by Zoe Hsu | 12/08/2023

Despite increasing destigmatization surrounding mental health, many people in the United States still suffer from various mental illnesses. Poor mental health in America is especially exacerbated by its individualistic lifestyle in which people are expected to look after themselves and work to make a living, without taking proper time to appreciate and enjoy the present moment or build community amongst one another.

This American lifestyle greatly differs from countries with significantly lower rates of mental illnesses and overall better well-being, such as Italy. In particular, a study by Prexa N. Shah found that “Italy has one of the lowest predominance rate of depression in comparison to rest of the world, which happens to be around 3.8 percent” (Shah 2016). On the other hand, the United States has the “highest prevalence of depression in [the] world” at 9.6 percent (Shah 2016). I am particularly intrigued by the stark contrast in well-being between the United States and Italy, and visited Italy to closely observe the lifestyle of Italians and learn how it differs from the lifestyle of Americans. Specifically, I wanted to explore the role that food plays in the mental health, and community-building more broadly, of Italians. Learning from the Italians serves as a way to fulfill the Milken Family Foundation’s goal to “discover…effective ways of helping people help themselves and those around them lead productive and satisfying lives” in America. This trip also aligns with the Milken Institute’s focus on mental health, a critical global issue that affects millions of people. I am excited to share what I have learned with my peers and communities that I belong to, and try to incorporate these lifestyle changes so we can all embark on a “path to a meaningful life.”

Experience
Breakfast 
I arrived at my first bar (which Italians use to refer to coffee shops) in Rome feeling overwhelmed and confused. I walked through the front door to find myself staring at the backs of people as waiters bustled behind a bar, taking coffee and pastry orders. To my surprise, people stayed standing at the bar and continued to converse with the waiters as they delivered cups of coffee and plates of croissants with lightning speed to the customers. It felt as if everyone in the room knew each other except for me: Italians continued to speak and laugh with the waiters as they made more orders; small groups of people by the bar sipped their coffee while enjoying a conversation. Not a single person took their coffee to-go. After about 15 minutes, I finally summoned the courage to ask a waiter what to do before they gestured to me to find a table myself. This experience gave me the first glimpse into how Italians interact with one another at breakfast: unlike Americans, who tend to order their cup of coffee to go and exit the cafe (sometimes making small talk with the barista but nothing more than “how are you?”), Italians stay and take their time to get to know friends and strangers. The biggest cultural difference was ordering and drinking coffee at a bar, which I assumed was traditionally reserved for serving and consuming alcoholic drinks. However, the bar encouraged constant interaction between the baristas and the customers, serving as another way to build camaraderie. Another difference I noticed was that the speed at which the waiters delivered the check was tremendously slow, but because people were so immersed in their conversations, no one was in a hurry to leave anyway. I had to call the waiter multiple times before he remembered to hand me the check.

Lunch/Dinner
While walking around in Rome, I was surprised by the large number of people eating in restaurants at every hour of the day. I was especially confused as many of these busy days were weekdays. I thought to myself: when do people go to work? Many of the restaurants also did allow orders to go, which encouraged people to sit in and enjoy their food. Not a single person (except for tourists) was on their phones.

Dinner was the liveliest meal of all. Italian dinners tended to continue late into the night; when I left to return to my hotel around 10:30 p.m., people were still eating their dinners and sipping wine. The atmosphere was incredibly lively and full of smiles and laughter. The people at the tables next to me were carrying on conversations as if they had not seen each other for years. Similar to lunch, the waiters did not rush to deliver checks to customers to allow them to enjoy their meals with others.

One part of the dinner that shocked me was that pasta was not the main dish;, it was rather called primi, or the first dish. Italians typically engage in a five-course dish consisting of antipasti (appetizers), primi (first course), secondi (second/main course), contorno (side dish), and dolce (dessert). Of course, all of these foods were paired with a bottle or two of wine. The amount of dishes for dinner, along with the alcohol from the wine, allowed groups to slowly and happily enjoy each other’s company for hours.

After dinner, Italians, particularly young people, continue to eat and drink late into the night. When I visited the Navigli District in Milan, I was astonished by how everyone sat at tables outside of the restaurant and alongside the river, rather than sitting down at a bar for drinks. Again, the set-up of these restaurants’ tables encouraged groups to gather. The livelihood emanating from these restaurants, lights, music, and other small booths selling trinkets lifted my mood. It was truly a space to relax, have fun, catch up with friends, or take a stroll along the water after a filling dinner.

Final Reflections
Eating and drinking play a crucial role in building Italian community, pride, and identity. Coffee shops and restaurants serve as important sites of social interaction not only among a group of family members and/or friends, but also with the workers. I could tell that Italians are eager to get to know one another, showing the importance and prevalence of solidarity and strong relationships within the Italian community. Unlike people in the U.S., who typically are not open to talking to strangers in public areas or only talk to people amongst their party, Italians seemed unafraid to branch out of their group to meet new people. Furthermore, eating and drinking offer a time and space to slow down for a moment and relax.

The combination of food and social connections has important implications on mental health. Psychological research has repeatedly shown that enjoying food with others boosts well-being. For instance, scientists from the University of Oxford found that people who “eat socially more often feel happier and are more satisfied with life, are more trusting of others, are more engaged with their local communities, and have more friends they can depend on for support” (Dunbar 2017, 1). In particular, meals in the evening allow people to bond more closely with others, such as producing “more laughter and reminiscences” (Dunbar 2017, 9). In addition, the act of building new and old social connections is “one of the strongest and most important predictors of happiness” (Saphire-Bernstein & Taylor 2013, 821) While there is not a direct correlation, it is not surprising that Italians have significantly lower suicide (OECD Better Life Index) and depression rates (Shah 2016) than the United States.

I have always heard of the slow, relaxing lifestyle of Italians. But witnessing firsthand how Italians build community amongst one another around food allowed me to better understand how non-individualistic, slow-paced lifestyles can look like, and how I and others around me can incorporate these lifestyle changes.