A communal meal is a

meal A meal is an occasion that takes place at a certain time and includes consumption of food. The English names used for specific meals vary, depending on the speaker's culture, the time of day, or the size of the meal. A meal is different from a ...

eaten by a group of people. Also referred to as communal dining, the practice is centered on

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...

and sharing time with the people who come together in order to share the

and

conversation Conversation is interactive communication between two or more people. The development of conversational skills and etiquette is an important part of socialization. The development of conversational skills in a new language is a frequent focus ...

. Communal dining can take place in public establishments like

restaurants A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in app ...

, college cafeterias, or in private establishments (home). It often but not always serves a social, symbolic and/or ceremonial purpose. For some, the act of eating communally defines humans as compared to other species. Communal meals have long been of interest to both archeologists and anthropologists. Much scholarly work about communal eating has focused on special occasions but everyday practices of eating together with friends, family or colleagues is also a form of communal eating. Communal eating is closely bound up with commensality (the sociological concept of eating with other people). Communal eating is also bound up with eating and drinking together to cement relations, to establish boundaries and hierarchies as well as for pleasure. Some examples of communal meals are the Native American

potlatch A potlatch is a gift-giving feast practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States,Harkin, Michael E., 2001, Potlatch in Anthropology, International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Scienc ...

, the

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

meal, cocktail parties, and company

picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors (Al fresco dining, ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event su ...

s. Meals shared for religious traditions include the Christian Agape feast, Muslim

iftar ''Iftar'' () is the Fasting in Islam, fast-breaking Supper, evening meal of Muslims in Ramadan at the time of ' (call to prayer) of the Maghrib prayer. Iftar is the second meal of the day; during Ramadan, the daily fast begins immediately a ...

, and Jewish

Passover Seder The Passover Seder is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar (i.e., at the start of the 15th; a Hebrew d ...

. Some restaurants feature communal meals at large tables where diners are seated next to strangers and are encouraged to interact with neighbors. Communal dining was an important part of

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

's religious traditions. There is a mention of communal dining in Chinese history.

References

Eating parties Communal eating {{Meals_navbox Food and drink culture Eating behaviors of humans Restaurant design

See also

References