Since most of our readers are part of the Principia community, it means that most of you are on vacation at the moment. Vacation usually means slowing down and doing nothing. What does that have to do with food? A lot more than you might think.
Like most of you, I was also looking forward to doing nothing over break, to finally have time to sleep and read some books I didn’t have time for this semester. I picked up a book called Women, Food, and God. Though the book barely mentions sustainable food, it does talk about America’s obsession with food and overeating, and how this obsession indicates a desire to escape what we are truly feeling. This part does have to do with sustainable farming; we have no chance of feeding everyone with sustainable agriculture if everyone is eating more than they actually need.
With over 60% of our country overweight, it is no secret that we need to start looking at food differently. Americans have a love/hate relationship with eating. For most, food is an enemy that brings love-handles and second chins, yet a piece of chocolate cake can bring immense comfort after a breakup or a layoff, a hard day of classes or a boring day at work. It is this relationship that I would like to highlight, that we use food to sustain our emotions, not our bodies.
As a nation, we have learned to go to food as a way to avoid and supplement our feelings, because God forbid we should feel something like sadness, loneliness, pain, or rejection. We turn to food like a drug because we’re afraid to be alone with ourselves. But are those feelings really that bad, or are we building them up in our heads?
The downside to all of this is that we are not only avoiding the joys and pains of our humanity, but when we reach for a cookie when we’re bored, it’s generally as something to do and not as something to enjoy or experience. Eating out of boredom is void of the process, community, and enjoyment that ought to surround food. Before you know it, “I’ll just eat one” turns into “Oh shucks, the cookies are gone”. You don’t taste the cookie, you don’t consider the cookie or where it came from. Escapism doesn’t solve anything. We have a responsibility to face our problems, both on an individual and collective level. We also have a responsibility to face our food.
With nothing to do this vacation, what better time to really get to know what your body is telling you? When you reach for a bag of potato chips, ask yourself if you are hungry or if there’s something else going on there. As you live out this vacation (or this work day, this day at home with your kids, this day of checking things off your to-do list), take the time to enjoy every moment as it comes, to fully embrace the miracle of simply being, to be present for every moment. Experience your food! How does it smell, how does it feel in your mouth? Where did it come from, how was it made? Think about the people and practices that put that food on your plate. This, my friends, has everything to do with sustainable agriculture. When we first consider how our food sustains us, we can then ask if our food can be sustained.
Jess
ourcommunitygarden.wordpress.com 
