The Stuff We Eat

Today was an important food day for me. It was important for several reasons. I spent the entire day at a Local Food Conference with about 150 like-minded people trying to figure out the food issues facing our country, our state, our town and our brothers and sisters who don’t have enough to eat. We ate food grown locally and prepared beautifully. We envisioned a community that could produce good, clean, culturally appropriate and affordable food for all. We dreamed a bit, but it was a beginning. This took place on Ash Wednesday, a day of fasting for some; a day for new beginnings for others. A day when we make grand gestures about what we will give up for Lent: sodas, red meat, sweets, chewing gum, junk food, fast food, alcohol, biting one’s fingernails – all things that are bad for us.

What if we really gave up the “stuff” that is bad for us? What if we gave up processed foods, foods with more than five ingredients listed on the back of the box, foods that were grown in countries with questionable standards? What if we gave up eating animals that were not raised and processed in a humane manner? What if we gave up eating foods grown with genetically modified seeds or grown with chemicals? What if we gave up foods that were grown on the other side of our country and trucked to us using the oil we are fighting a war for? What if we gave up foods that were grown by growers who did not earn a living wage?

What if we ate good “stuff”? What if we ate food grown locally by growers paid enough to support themselves? What if we ate food that was in season? What if we ate food grown on a farm that had been in a family for multiple generations? What if we ate food appropriate to our culture? What if we ate meat, poultry or fish that was raised in natural conditions? What if we ate whole, real, unprocessed food? What if we ate food grown in a sustainable manner? What if we ate food grown from heirloom seed saved by conscientious farmers? What if we ate foods without growth hormones?

What if we thought about our food before we shoveled it into our mouths? What if we thought about the farmer who grew it and said a silent pray of thanks? What if we thought about the animal grown for our hamburger or steak and said a silent prayer of gratitude? What if we thought about only eating the best food we could get?

What if we thought about those who don’t have enough to eat; those without access to clean food, healthy food, whole food? What if we thought about why obesity and diabetes and heart disease are out of control? What if we thought about one in four children being hungry? What if we thought about mothers going without food so their children could eat? What if we thought about people who get their food out of dumpsters?

It is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, a 40-day period of “making a new man” for Catholics and some Protestant denominations. What if, instead of giving up something, we really thought about our food for forty days? Could this lead to changes? I don’t know – but it’s a beginning.