The Placemat

My friends know me as a notoriously slow eater. I take frustratingly small bites, I talk a lot, and I laugh at everything. In the company of others with the cadence of natural distraction, I feel much more paced to enjoy my food and eat slowly. Instead of inhaling a plate of rice and beans by myself, it’s natural to pause and take breaks when I’m in conversation, further cementing meals as inherently social structures in my mind. 

 

Conversely, eating in solitude disrupts that slow pace entirely for me. Before my afternoon shift at a restaurant, I would make myself lunch and sit at my dining room table alone to eat. Sometimes I would scroll through TikTok, other days I would read a few pages out of my book, and often I would stare out the window because my hands were too messy for any other activity. 

 

I had the pleasure of speaking to experimental psychologist, computer scientist, pastry chef, designer, and multisensory artist, Quian Janice Wang about her research and passions. She conducted a survey that showed that the majority of people use devices at least a few times per week during any particular meal. Breakfast might be for catching up on news, lunch is divided by people taking a break from work or immersing themselves in work, and dinner is for movies and relaxation. Wang put it simply, “People don’t want to be lonely, they want to be entertained.”

 

She also brought up a great point about food research in general; when researchers study digital media and its impacts on eating behavior, they often look at how much food is eaten, not necessarily whether the food tasted better to you, or satisfied you more. Wang’s current research explores the role of technology in improving the solo diner’s experience of their meal.  

 

This placemat is a way for the solo diner (read also: myself) to pace herself during meals, to notice the food she is eating, and to not feel guilty about getting distracted during lunch.