Feast in the MIddle East

Hello Friends,

As someone that works in the food space, I felt a responsibility to create a video and commentary on a disturbing practice that is only getting worse by the day–binging processed food for clicks. If you scroll often on TikTok or Instagram for five minutes and you’ll see it: young people shoveling huge quantities of greasy burgers, cakes, cookies, candies – usually in their car alone. These videos garner millions of views, fueling the creators to binge even more.

Food has become spectacle, and while it’s easy to point fingers at Gen Z — but I refuse to do that. I have two children in this generation, and in many ways, they are the most ethically aware, emotionally intelligent generation I’ve ever seen. They care about mental and physical health. They care about ingredients. They question systems of corruption. But they’re also the first generation raised inside two powerful forces colliding at once: Ultra-processed food and algorithm-driven content.

And when those elements combine, eating changes in a nihilistic way. In much of the Middle East, food is not consumed alone in a parked car. It’s placed in the center of a table and shared. There is conversation between bites, with eye contact, interruption, laughter. Contrast that with what’s happening online now, and eating has become a performance. The bigger the portion, the more extreme the indulgence, the more dramatic the reaction —and the more the algorithm rewards it.

Today, more than half of calories consumed in the U.S. come from ultra-processed foods — formulations engineered for hyper-palatability. They are designed to be irresistible: the perfect combination of salt, sugar, refined fats, and texture. When hyper-palatable foods dominate childhood and young adulthood, taste buds adjust. Hunger cues shift and food becomes stimulation rather than nourishment.

In Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cultures, the meal itself is only part of the experience. The Mediterranean diet is often praised for olive oil, legumes, vegetables, herbs, and fish. But the research consistently shows something deeper: it’s also about lifestyle. Meals are shared, slower, structured, and grounded in real ingredients. People don’t eat an enormous plate alone for applause. You see small plates passed around, aunties insisting you take more, and children at the table learning how to eat by watching adults — not influencers.

When you’re engaged in conversation, you don’t inhale your food. When you cook from scratch, you don’t consume engineered intensity at every bite. When eating is relational, it doesn’t need to be theatrical.

The most radical act today might be simple: Invite someone over. Cook something real. Sit longer than necessary.
Put the phone down. The Mediterranean diet isn’t powerful because of olive oil alone, it’s powerful because it protects something we’re quietly losing: Connection. And perhaps that is what we truly hunger for.

Check out my commentary in my new video below, and I would love to know from you, are you noticing this insidious trend? What do you think about it?