Food Evokes Feelings and Memories

For Pia Pakalén, food is tied not only to health but also to childhood memories. She says she remains grateful to her late mother for recognizing the importance of vegetables, berries and root vegetables while raising the family.

Pakalén writes that meals at home followed a regular schedule and that the children were not given unnecessary snacks. The family still baked at home and often had dessert, but everyday treats remained separate from special celebrations.

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I am grateful to my late mother, who understood the importance of vegetables, berries and root vegetables during our childhood.

Her comments respond to Jessica Sonko’s earlier letter in Helsingin Sanomat about healthy food and the importance of the home in shaping eating habits. Pakalén says she fully agrees with Sonko’s view.

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Food is something that evokes feelings and memories.

Food, she writes, evokes feelings and memories, and those memories matter. She argues that families should work together to create associations in which meals place greater emphasis on healthy eating. Children and young people represent the future, she says, making their health and well-being the central concern.

Pakalén identified herself as a vegetarian from Vantaa. Helsingin Sanomat published the text as a reader opinion piece.

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Let us create together memories in which eating places greater emphasis on healthier food.