How much of your eating experience is dictated by your commute?

• Image Lab
• Proximity is often the determining factor when it comes to lunch at work.

Food is habitual. We seek comfort in the dishes from our childhood table. Our sandwich condiment orders are etched in stone. And everyone has a go-to weekend spot.

A friend asked for a lunch recommendation recently, and I rattled off places within a 20-minute round-trip drive (this includes the time spent walking and paying), which I consider an acceptable distance if you only get 45 minutes or an hour for lunch. He opted for a meal with a little less effort, grabbing a sandwich from two blocks away.

This is the battle of geography, hunger and our perception that we just don’t have enough to eat. And it’s happening at breakfasts, lunches and dinners around the city. It would seem that food must be extraordinary in order to overcome the distance and time gap. When was the last time you stopped for coffee at a place that was off your predetermined route to work? So, how much of your eating existence is dictated by your commute and the location of your office?