Hate the sound of people eating when I am not eating.

I think that there is certainly something very positive about taking the time to enjoy such a 'basic' activity as eating... I think it's all very interesting though, as - I've read somewhere anyway - the idea of set meals at set times is a very arbitrary construct, presumably derived from the agricultural revolution and so-on, and only relatively recently 'compressed' due to domestic technology (cookers, fridges, freezers etc.).

That is, meal preparation actually used to take up a good deal of the day for most people, the vast majority, in fact... and this is how the notion of a few set meals a day evolved... prior to that food was consumed on a much more 'ad-hoc' basis, with less elaborate preparation, and less ritual (gathering fruits, berries, nuts and so-on I suppose... together with fire-cooked fish and meat).

Of course this would all concur with the idea that snacking is generally negative, and also potentially detrimental from a health perspective: the reason that sweet things taste so good, for example, is because they used to be so such a rich - and rare - resource of energy in the form of sugar and so-on that the body provided a potent incentive (i.e. the taste) for us to go to lengths to consume it whenever possible, even if it involved going to some lengths.

Now, in our part of the world at-least we have high-streets lined with bakeries, pizza places, burger joints and all other sorts of fast food, shops on every street corner brimming with a whole varied selection of chocolate and other sweets... and then vending machines(full of crisps, chocolate and fizzy drinks in every other place too it seems!

That's not to mention all the extra added salt, sugar and other additives, flavourings and preservatives in so much of the content of any super-market, which you basically have to inspect very closely and carefully to avoid, and pay extra too...  

No wonder diet is a relevant issue, as we've 'progressed' a society (through technology identifiable in only a few hundred years, it seems) which actually somewhat thoughtlessly 'perverts' the natural functions that we've naturally evolved over tens of thousands of them.

I also think that it's interesting to consider the psychology of snacking, turning eating into a constant stream of oral gratification, combined with the psychological 'buzz' of potent stimulants and so on, which definitely provides a 'kick' of some description it seems - again, as it would do, given our natural physiology.

Of course, I haven't really researched anything of what I've just said in much depth, just gathered it from general reading really - so other people might be able to contradict and correct me.

It's also basically totally hypocritical, because I am terrible at basic food preparation, and end-up relying on a 'grazing' process (mostly sandwiches or more often, toast based) - but I think if had my own place, and did my own shopping, I'd change that.

Isha: Yes, I don't like the 'snack culture'. I believe we should eat at set times: breakfast, lunch, dinner, unless of course someone really HAS to eat outside of these times, for example if they have diabetes or another health complaint. But for most healthy people, we don't actually need to eat all the time. A little bit of 'hunger' in the Western world (i.e , not REAL hunger) is not going to hurt most people, and may in fact be healthy to feel a grumbly tummy now and again. Constant eating means we never experience  real desire for food, and so we meet the point of satiation where food can no longer be really enjoyed as something special and really satisfying. There is, of course, a difference between feeling ravenous (never a good thing) and feeling slightly 'hungry'. It is possible that eating all the time, or very often, disrupts our metabolism, leading to very high insulin levels and not enough breakdown of fat: there have been studies examining this.

But health issues with snacking , if there are indeed any (a point of contention), I think are less important here than the erosion of etiquette and social structure/norms.

I never snack, really look forward to food at the set times, and like to eat with NO distractions.

Darth Reagon: I do not have many sensory complaints, but I do have issues with intrusive noise, such as people eating conspicuously, sniffing, blowing their nose, those sorts of things. And sometimes small background sounds, particularly people talking, distract me and/or irritate me a little, but usually only when I am deep in thought or trying to work out something in my head. If I am not deep in thought, the same noises do not usually irritate me!. And, like yourself, I can't stand it when people walk too close to me or I can hear them walking behind me on a public walkway. For me, however, I think it is more because I feel very self-conscious and they intrude upon my space.

It sounds to me also like something of an issue of 'focus'. I find it repellant when the noises of peoples eating is too vividly evocative of the actual image of the food in their mouth, being munched up into mush, and sodden with saliva... I find it very difficult the shared evening meals with my mum and step-dad, but feel terribly rude attempting to excuse myself from them.

Sensory intrusions distract me from what I am attempting to do - I'm sure people don't mean to cause these problems, they simply don't understand why it is problematic environment they are creating.

Another problem I have is if I am going for a walk, and end-up with somebody walking behind me, within ear-shot.

If it is a quiet park or such, and I can hear their foot-steps, it drives me crazy, and is enough to ruin my walk... as it's so intrusive... I end-up either having to speed-up to get away from them, or else slow down dramatically, or even stop completely to let them pass and walk into the distance.

Sometimes they stare at me when I do this, wondering what I'm doing - I just try to smile and not look annoyed: they aren't doing anything wrong really of course, are they?

Isn't it strange how rooms, and even whole buildings are set assigned for certain set activities... and with something like autism, it suddenly feels like what seems to be appropriate for most people isn't actually satisfactory for them sometimes?

For me, it feels like an issue of focus because something as slight as footsteps behind me (it is only when they're behind me, when the noise is obtrusive, without being seen) is enough to intrude upon my whole 'sensory realm' enough to spoil the pleasure of being on a walk.

Hi Hope,

Loving the word "uncouth", long time since I've seen that used. 

People have many different relationships to food. I think that you are like me, you like set meal times and do not snack in between. But many people are so busy that they 'graze' throughout the day, just grabbing what they can when it's convenient. What is important is that we have a healthy relationship to food. That is; we eat our daily requirements of good nutrious food to keep us healthy.

I understand how annoying it can be when other people can sound like 'pigs at a trough', especially when they purport to love food, yet eat at a rate that the taste of the food cannot possibly be appreciated.

Maybe you should try really concentrating on when you eat, really enjoy the experience and just accept that other people don't perhaps get that opportunity? And you are right, sharing food, eating together is a very basic human activity that has been very much lost in recent times. So when you do get to share a meal - make it extra special.