Any blog post or article starts with a byline and I pondered for a minute if Let's Talk About Food which is the guiding theme for Blog Action Day 2011 on October 16 should be included?

I decided not to as I talk about food in some shape of form pretty much every day, whether it is in Interviews with chefs and authors or via Recipes i share.

My European upbringing still shows up in my approach to food.

A good meal is not just something to nourish the body, it is also fuel for conversation, a way to show we care for people we share a meal with.

A nice meal does not have to be complicated.

It can be a simple combination of crudites, cheeses and cold cuts.

Bread has to be part of it.

It just happens that as Blog Action Day 2011 is held on World Food Day, some bloggers around the world picked the same day as World Bread Day and invite us to make dough and bake bread.

Bread is something easy to share, breaking the bread.

It is a basic staple in many cultures and the jump in bread prices in developping countries played a part in recent upheavals.

The theme for World Food Day 2011 is highlighted in image above.

Along these lines, Oxfam launched a Grow Week which runs from October 15 to October 22, 2011 and offers an Interactive Map of food prices around the globe.

Writing this piece, a conversation i had with a very fit Japanese speaker at Japan Society in New York came back to mind.

When I noted that everyone was in a rush to grab drinks and food as soon as cocktail party opened, he suggested that if Americans ate smaller portions and shared the surplus food saved that way with less fortunate people, it would contribute in no small way to solve hunger issues.

Happy World Food Day and Blog Action Day 2011!