hello dear friends! human beans of all sorts and kinds! skin and bone and meat sacks alike!
I have been traversing the land for a short time now, absorbing all that I can
I have had my hands in the garden bed, my heart out in the field, my mind spilling across words of green things and root things and flower and fruit, my eyes cast upon happy grazing creatures as they gnaw at the ground gently, in utter peace with the green
I have found, in these travels, in these times of mine, an answer
a mantra to live by
a beautiful simplicity
I tell it to you now -
f
o
o
d
i
s
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e v
e r y
t
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i
n
g
oh the food! oh how my life has been a saga of food, a never ending quest of what to put in my body, of what to put in my mouth, of what to chew, of what to taste, of what I know and what I should try, of how it makes me feel, of how much to spend on it, of food dictating my time and my energy, of climbing mountains of frustration over finding a thing to eat, of forcing myself to eat, of craving, of binging and purging, of complex feelings of food, of finding how to relate to my body
what I put in my body defines me in more ways than I could imagine
I am inseparable from what I eat
food may as well be it all
food is the ultimate quest, the purest objective, the simplest joy and the most constant struggle
food determines you in ever way, it is what you are made of, what your body can access, what your mind can grow
food is everywhere, you cannot go two steps in a field, in the woods, without finding something, that at some point, a mouth enjoyed, that milky white chompers once bit down on, and chewed for a while, and through some manner of digestion, absorbed into their very being!
food is everywhere you look, in many shapes, in many forms
food is the simplest way to connect to the earth, to stick your hands in the dirt, and with the companionship of time, and water, and sunshine, to pull up sweetness, to sweat in the heat of harvest time and to return to the table reimbursed by your efforts, to feel her sweet bounty, to celebrate in flavors that we have so carefully crafted from her elements, that we have designed to taste sweeter, to fall apart in our hands, to feel soft or crisp in our mouths, to grow larger and closer to the ground
food has soul, it has spice, it has bite, it has sharp or soft, juicy or crumbly, runny or thick, it is tongue tied music, from a single guitar to a symphony, from jazz to sonic thunder, to the notes it plays on your taste buds, to the dance it does in your belly
food is not all so equal, and some foods are a farce, a masquerade of chemicals deceiving your insides, passing through you in the most violent and careless of ways, and through this farce food had become a dictator of power, of hunger, and what food you can afford dictates you, your body, your mind, your happiness, your fulfillment and to be denied real food, the food of the earth, the food of the endless cycle, the food of the body and for the body, a privilege not all can afford, this is control, a cornerstone of inequity, an imbalance that must be remedied
food is the business that will never go out of style, an age old occupation, a hundred different methods and stories and systems of how to work with the land, of how to shape ecologies, of how to strike balance, to maintain, to return back what you have taken
food has the power to change your life, if you stop to feel what it has to offer, if you listen as it moves through you, as it transforms you
food you eat is inseparable from your life, and your relationship to food is your relationship to yourself, to the world, to every living thing
food is my one true purpose, and I pour my love into the food, the everlasting quest, the building blocks for social space, the way it allows me to reach you, to sit at the table in thanks, to share it with you dear friend, across a rain storm, across the hum of music, across a vase of flowers and candlesticks and antique knick-knacks, across the room, across our differences, across disagreements, we find savior, we build community in this glorious common thread, and as we sit here together, sharing words or silence, our bellies slowly swelling, or inner juices flowing, I look into your eyes and I can see it, the joy you receive from eating the food you love, the mediation it offers in any conversation, the space it makes for you to nourish
to grow and expand,
to create,
to think,
to speak
to love
to exist
is to eat.