The importance of food in life

Recently CNN's eatocracy website had an article about the importance of the shared interest in food for couples.

The article got me thinking a little bit about just how important a trait love and especially true appreciation of food is to me. I understand and respect different tastes and lifestyles and have no problem sharing meals with vegetarians or vegans, or dinning with people who enjoy some of the few foods that I just don't like. To each there own. But I have noticed that I do get very frustrated when I around people who don't see the value and beauty in their food. Eating simply as a means for survival doesn't make any sense to me.
I truly believe that cooking helps solidify a connection with food. Developing an understanding for flavors and the process and time that goes into preparation, cooking and presentation and how all that matters in enjoying the experience of the meal. I'm not saying that every meal, or even the majority of meals need to illicit some sort of deep emotional response or activate the artistic appreciation in our minds (I am as guilty as the next with my turkey and cheese sandwiches for lunch 5 days a week) but I believe that being able to have such a connection from time to time is important. I have been to restaurants with all times and I have shared great meals with all types and truly there are few things more annoying to me that sharing such a meal (whether it is one I made myself or when to to a restaurant to experience) with someone who doesn't value food for its benefits beyond substance.
To this extend I agree with some of what is being said in the article. I have a hard time connecting with people who don't see food in a way similar to myself. I have got myself in trouble with more than a few of my female friends when they talk about avoiding certain foods that they love because they need to diet (which puts me on the edge of a whole other topic that I wish to avoid here). In the past, and even today, I would get frustrated with them, I am not saying that they should indulge every day, but I have never understood total restraint and used to speak my mind, a pointless endeavor as I have discovered. And this comes from people who I generally know appreciate food, so I can only imagine my reaction to those that don't value the process of preparing high quality and beautiful food.
To get back to my main point, I think that cooking, while the best form of procrastination, is also a window into food appreciation and the opposite holds true as well; if you truly want to excel at cooking you have to love food, indulge in guilty pleasures, succumb to the warming power of real butter, pamper your proteins and value fresh vegetables. You have to be willing to commit the time and give the process the full attention it deserves. It is a bit cliché to say but food cooked with love truly does taste better.