Every time I share a meal with friends, we exclaim, “we should do this more often.” If only we actually did.

Home-cooked, slowly-eaten meals are what our culture needs most. These meals should be shared with friends, family and even acquaintances. Even suggesting that there’s a need for this makes me sad because I don’t think that many people are connecting around the table. We connect on Facebook but sip our canned soup in solitude. We watch the lives of others on reality TV but eat our PB and J alone.

The holidays are a good time to bring this up as they consist of sharing food and conversation around a table. Not a table covered with Top Ramen and pizza, but a table replete with potatoes, turkey and fine wine. And it will be delicious. Our culture’s prosperity and abundance affords us the opportunity for regular “food comas.” Even though these food comas are irresistibly delicious, they’re a curse in disguise.

America is one of the only cultures in world history where overconsumption has been a problem. We have so much food, we don’t know what to do with it. We’re gaining weight while trying hard to go on diets to our own detriment. We’re working more, sleeping less, eating on the way to work, bolting down greasy meals on meager 30-minute lunch breaks or ordering food from a disembodied speaker at a drive-through.

Our culture places a high value on speedy dining. We eat fast food, boil instant meals and cook one-minute rice. Our excessive consumption of packaged food leads to loads of diet-related issues. Diabetes, cancer, obesity and heart disease can all be linked to diets high in processed food. And, most everything you buy in a package is loaded with preservatives. Sugar, sodium and all sorts of binders have replaced vitamins and nutrients in packaged items. Chips, crackers, cereals and even many dairy products have been enriched for shelf-life and artificial flavor. Try reading ingredient labels and eliminating high-fructose corn syrup from your diet. It’s nearly impossible.

Once a week, I challenge you to eat one meal at home. This meal should be shared with two or more people you know and should use at least one recipe.

It has to be shared around a table, without a TV blaring or a YouTube video playing on your laptop. You should ask your dinner partners about their lives and actually be interested. No fast food, no pizza and no take out. You cook it, and you eat it at home. If you’re going to enjoy a drink, don’t pick Busch Light.

The emotional health of families that eat meals together is significantly higher than that of families who don’t.

According to a 2004 article in an American Medical Association Pediatrics journal, substance abuse and depression are much lower in families who share regular meals with one another.

Homework and recreational reading also tend to be higher priorities in these families. Statistically, most Washington students will eventually start families, so it would be smart to pay heed to these findings. The health of our lives as students can immediately be improved by eating with our friends and family more regularly.

I’m not arguing for a food revolution, although it’d be pretty sweet if fast food went out of business because we were too busy eating with our loved ones. I’m just hoping that we stop and think about our habits. Do you want your kids bolting out the door because they’re too busy to talk to you someday? Home-cooked meals are cheaper, and in our sagging economy, making them a habit could save us a bundle. Start a tradition to value the people around you by cooking for them or, at least, simply eating in the comfort of your own home.

Reach columnist Jackson Rohrbaugh at opinion@dailyuw.com.