What is FOOD?

What is Food?

We all need food to survive, but food is so much more than an energy source for our body. It is multifaceted. It  has the power to nourish our soul, provide comfort, please our senses, and fill us with memories past and present.

F O O D.  F represents fuel, the obvious definition. It also fills us with  feelings. I feel my Grandma and her love for me when I recreate her recipes. Memories from childhood float up and surround me in warmth when I make my Mom’s oatmeal raisin cookies. Food is a vehicle for time and space travel. Whenever I eat anything with shiso in it, I am transported to Japan, where I lived for several years of my life. Food is magical and powerful.

O is for Ongoing connection to family, friends, Mother Earth and God. The closer you are to your food source, the stronger the relationship you have with it and where it comes from.  Farm to table is wonderful. Your garden to table is even better! The energy and love you spend growing and nurturing your food, goes directly back into you when you eat it. It’s a beautiful cycle. Industrialization has distanced us from our food sources - separated us from our Mother Earth, robbing us of a sacred connection. Growing your own veggies literally keeps you grounded. Studies show that spending 20 minutes barefoot in your garden or grass reduces stress and anxiety. Listening to the sounds of nature is soothing and refreshing.

O Opportunity for healing. Eating real food, (any nutritious substance that is digested by the body) offers  ingredients that provide nutrition to sustain us. Real food provides medicinal aspects that can heal us as well as keep us healthy. 

D  Deeply Spiritual. This aspect of food has been forgotten. Most Americans consume products labeled as food, that is so processed, it doesn’t even resemble real food. Real food has life and vibrant colors, like fruits and vegetables. Each color carries a specific energy and trait that supports the body.  How cool is that?  The doctrine of signatures* - tell us by the shapes of plants, what part of the body it’s good for. If it’s heart shaped, it is good for the heart!  What a loving way to communicate the value and use of each edible plant. I see that as God/Source/Universe, guiding us. All that is required on our part is to pay attention.  It is a wonder-full design filled with love. *The doctrine of signatures, dating from the time of Dioscorides and Galen, states that herbs resembling various parts of the body can be used by herbalists to treat ailments of those body parts. A theological justification, as stated by botanists such as William Coles, was that God would have wanted to show men what plants would be useful for. Wikipedia

What are you going to do with this information? It’s my sincere desire that you use it to bless yourself; that you use it nourish all of who you are.

Very Berry Salad.pdf

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