Food

I had a thought earlier today which may be lost forever - at least in its articulate, understandable form - but it had something to do with identifying major areas within my life and the life of my family that could be improved through intentional and constructive change.

The first area I thought of was food.

Andy has been reading some of Michael Pollan's books (In Defense of Food and The Omnivore's Dilemma) lately and it has changed the way he thinks about food. In the meantime, I've become increasingly aware of how my body is reacting to certain things I've been eating... and it's felt very similar to the process of working toward quitting smoking - namely, I just don't feel well when I eat certain things.

I may crave them and desperately want to eat them, but I've noticed through a sort of intentional mindfulness that I tend to feel rather awful after I've consumed said chocolate, packaged food, junk food, fast food, restaurant food, etc.

On top of that, there is the issue of the extra weight I'd still like to take off and Andy's frustration over some steadily rising numbers on the scale as well. So here we are, in our mid-30s, feeling out of shape, overweight, and generally dissatisfied with the way we eat.

Today Krista Tippett interviewed Barbara Kingsolver on Speaking of Faith. The interview focused on Kingsolver's latest book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. I didn't get to hear the whole thing, but it seemed to connect in a synchronistic fashion to the conversations Andy and I have had about intentional communities, homesteading, gardening, eating better, and committing to buying and consuming locally in order to eat more fresh foods and ground-to-plate meals.

Food is such a complex thing for most of us. Whether we love it or hate it, feel to thin or too fat or just right, are gourmands or diner-hounds or live in ramen noodles and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese... food is an ever-present, expensive, and vital component of our lives.

To see food as an ethical, moral, or mindful choice seems to move it from an automatic activity to an intentional one... to carefully consider everything we put into our bodies requires attention, action, and patience. And if we really are to tackle some of the larger issues that seem to hold our country back from ever-greater achievement and efficiency within the scope of food consumption and production, it seems being aware of how, what, when, why, and where we eat is a necessary and beneficial first step.