The more I hear in the news about people on the planet going hungry the more I appreciate the northern California food on my table.
And I don't mean a generic thank-you-for-this-food kind of gratitude, not that that isn't a component; it certainly is. What I mean is I am appreciating my food - actually feeling appreciation for it.
My friend, the Renaissance Woman, told me of a study where people appreciated dirty, polluted water. Every day they talked to it, felt appreciation for it, saw it as clean and yes, the water became clear. Drinkable.
Maybe she made the study up, maybe it never happened. It doesn't matter. I believe it's true. It seems possible.
So I've been talking to my food. Respecting it. I taste the food in front of me like I've never tasted it before and I do not take any aspect of it for granted. I work that last grain of rice off the plate, eat the crumple of pizza sausage that falls in my lap. I lick my spoon, my fork and my knife. I lick my fingers after I lick my lips.
And I picture plenty of food for everyone on the planet. I don't know how that picture will happen but it seems possible.
And picturing it as already true seems like a good place to start and the only way I can hold that isn't already so.
5 hours ago
5 comments:
I really like what Thich Nhat Hanh says about appreciating food. I'm paraphrasing here, but he talks about when he looks at his food, he sees the sunshine and rain in it, along with the farmers that grew it, the person who prepared it and all of the other 'ingredients' that have come to be manifest in that food he has the privilege of eating.
I don't really have anything to add, except that I think realizing what we have and being grateful for it is the first step towards some kind of solution. I don't know what that looks like, either, but I'm really glad there are people who care.
I'm definately finding myself being more conscious of 'using everything' in the kitchen. Milk seems more precious, leftovers seem more precious and we are endlessly grateful that we have the land, the sun and the water that we do to grow a bit of our own food.
Every enduring nation,tradition, religion, people have a deep reverance for food.
Years ago I watched a PBS show on Chinese chulture. It was the revered position of the grandfather to stay home and cook the meal while the family farmed and fished. Their food, every grain of it was important to their well-being and his preparation of that food was highly valued.
My husband asks that we don't cook when angry because the food will catch that energy. For a time we had a small business and I developed an energy bar of wonderful ingredients like bee pollin and honey and seasame and I felt such joy making them and danced and I put that on the label.
theresa - You paraphrase beautifully. Thank you.
donna - I'm glad people care too.
kendra - Along those lines there was a documentary recently with the Tassajara bread guy, Ed Brown, and in one clip he had some less than crisp vegetables - "They're a little old," he said. "That's okay. I use them." It went something like that anyway and I find myself thinking of him and using the bag of forgotten whatever from the bottom of the drawer that I would have previously tossed. And it feels good.
verde - I love that you don't cook when angry. I guess it would be the same thing when planting seeds or watering the garden. I'm going to pay attention to this. The Grandfather tradition is wonderful too.
Post a Comment