Why Learning to Prepare your own Food is a Political Act
posted by Desert Sage | February 9, 2010
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IcerocketFood has always been political, but in the last 50 years the game has significantly changed. Most of the stuff we consider “food” isn’t food at all—it’s a heap of chemicals made to look and taste like its real counterpart. Go into any supermarket and read the ingredients of the stuff they sell. You’ll find lots of big words naming colors, flavor enhancements and preservatives, along with lots of low-quality fats and lots of what passes off as salt, and if there is anything plant-based, it is most likely from genetically modified and chemically laden crops.
It’s highly probable that a steady diet of these altered “foods” will confuse your body, possibly making it susceptible to disease as it breaks down from lack of actual nutrition. Some of us have learned to stay away from this potentially deadly supermarket fare, instead choosing real food that’s available from many other sources. And when we do eat with consciousness, we don’t support corporations that are banking it big at the expense of most people’s ignorance.
The trick is training yourself away from the fake “food” if that’s what your body is used to. The manufacturers know what to put in there to get you coming back for more, and getting off the junk can take a lot of willpower. The good thing is that when you know why you’re choosing real food, it makes the change much easier. It comes down to this: eat crap that puts money in the hands of greedy liars who gladly harm us and the environment, or, eat real food that nourishes your body and supports farms and businesses that care about the Earth’s and your good health.
If you don’t already have the skill, consider learning how to prepare your own food. A good way to do that is to start simple and experiment: play in your kitchen! Keep practicing, ask questions of those whose food you like, and watch the plethora of food-prep videos available on the Internet. Another worthwhile skill is patience to take the time to make your own food and then to clean up afterward.
The purpose is to eliminate the foods that don’t love you like you deserve to be loved. The purpose is to enjoy real food and the way it makes you feel, which will open your heart to even more loving. The purpose is to expand your awareness of who is or isn't looking out for your greatest good. The purpose is to join with others and share your kitchen creations. The purpose is to grow and change in an act of conscious evolution that will not only bring you to a higher place, but all those who follow alongside you, and those alongside them.
Comments
Organics
— Feb 10, 2010
I agree fully and I've been eating all organic foods for the past two months now. I definitely get fewer headaches and feel better in general. The hardest thing that I've found to give up is sugar. I don't eat candy anymore, but I definitely find it hard to kick my cookie habit. I consider myself the cookie monster....but it's just not healthy, even organic cookies.
Anyways, definitely learn how to cook, it's a worthwhile skill and you will find it to actually be fun once you know what you're doing.
Peace
Cookie Montser
— Feb 12, 2010
If you can't tell by all my responses on this blog, I love food. But even more so I love sweets, so now I make my own granola with an agave nectar/coconut oil emulsion, and add in all sorts of delicious sweet dried fruits and seeds and nuts, and I now find this to be more enjoyable than anything store bought or prepared outside of my own kitchen. If you can't live without sugar, just use healthy sweeteners like raw honey and agave nectar...
"Soon we'll find out who is the real revolutionaries." -- Robert Nesta Marley
food
— Feb 10, 2010
the desire for 'convenience', the eagerness/willingness to let others do our 'work' for us and general laziness is behind much of our dilemma.
thanks for the post...i think the underlying thrust of the post can be seen in a much wider context. are we willing to do the work, or are we just waiting for the messiah, 2012, ETs, paradigm shift, etc.
Ghandi-jis' salt and weaving work should be reconsidered and contemplated by us all. freedom is work, but modern enui/boredom is easily 'harder'. "idle hands are the devils playground"
ymmv
thank you
— Feb 10, 2010
it makes me so happy when people post stuff like this
processed food is whack
dont talk shit about corporations too much, someday im going to be the head of a massive corporation built completly on orthomolecular nutrition
i ended up at being a raw foodist because every time i found out new info and changed my diet a little by removing a certain thing and/or adding other things it made me feel better
now i feel AWSOME all the time :]
most humans are somewhat allergic to gluten and/or lactose
DAIRY CAUSES ACNE/INDEGESTION
Caffine, MSG, all corn syrups, and hydrogenated oils are in just about any processed foods. They screw with everything about your being on the cellular level and are addictive
VITAMIN C IS AWSOME
eating more than 10% animal protien of any kind creates an unalkaline environment within the body, leading to cancer, heart disease, ect..
AVACADOS ARE AWSOME
protiens are just big pieces of amino acids(enzymes) that take extra work to break down
eating 51% or more raw uncooked plants prevents the immune system from over working itself
KALE IS AWSOME
Food selection is just like voting
— Feb 11, 2010
except better because you get to do it at least every month and it has a direct, immediate impact on the world around you. oh, and you're actually getting what you voted for. :)
thanks!
Appistat
— Feb 12, 2010
Thank you Desert Sage, your blog resonates with me. I have come to realize the fundamentally political nature of food and its preparation over the past 7 or 8 months. Real food is magical, and the preparation and ingestion of it should be intimate, sensual and divine. I have gone so far as to never even use canned organic beans anymore, I only use raw beans and grains (which I soak and cook the way people have for thousands of years), no boxed couscous or rice pilaf, and with the spring I intend to grow most, if not all, of my vegetables for the year. But I digress, my intention of this comment was to comment on the body's mechanism known as the appistat, which basically will naturally tell you what nutrients your body needs through its cravings for particular foods. But this will only work when there is some semblance of balance already within the body. So, over time, when a person makes the transition from a diet high in nutrient-scarce, immitation "foods" to real foods, their appistat begins to function again, leading to better functioning of the body/mind/spirit. I find it hilarious how many people mock my connection to food, and I feel genuine compassion for their poor-health inducing diet. However I will not preach about my diet, only be willing and open to discuss my views on food when someone is genuinely interested. Thanks again.
"Soon we'll find out who is the real revolutionaries." -- Robert Nesta Marley
We've got to get ourselves back to the garden
— Feb 12, 2010
Thanks for all the replies, friends. Besides the major political implications of our eating habits, the very fact that we have the food options we do makes us fortunate indeed. I wish for all beings of the Earth to have the same choices we do to nourish their bodies and souls daily.
