Back in Business
I realize that it’s been almost two weeks since I’ve posted anything of substance, and I apologize for that. It doesn’t make good blog reading, does it? Sit down (well, you likely are sitting) Pour a cup of whatever you drink (coffee, tea, water, wine). This is going to be a long one and I wouldn’t want to cause dehydration (you might want to emtpy yourself first because holding it in is unhealthy).
On May 11 I posted of my experience listening to Carlo Petrini speak. I wrote of misplacing some of my notes, thinking that they got thrown into the recycle bin. Well, I found them. They were nestled between the top cover and first page of my copy of Food Politics. Topically relevant. Notes of note:
This provides a good segue into something else that I wanted to share. Yesterday ended a six week discussion series called “Eating Jewishly, Eating Ethically: Exploring Judaism and Food in the 21st Century”. The series was lead by “My Rabbi Friend Aaron” (one of two ways that I generally refer to him, as frame of reference, to those who wouldn’t know who I was talking about if I referred to him by full name).
Every Wednesday 20 or so of us sat around discussing contemporary food issues in juxtaposition to Jewish texts, both biblical and otherwise historical. The six weeks were broken down like this:
| Week | Relationship | Topics |
| 1 | Between a Person and God | Kashrut Laws & Meanings; Blessings & Mindfulness |
| 2 | Between a person and her/his body | Health, Appetites and Bodies |
| 3 | Between a Person and the Community | Community & Culture |
| 4 | Between a Person and his/her Fellow | Farmers & Food Workers; Tzedakah & Tzedek |
| 5 | Between a Person and Animals | Treatment of Animals/Vegetarianism |
| 6 | Between a Person and the Earth | Environment & Ecology |
I missed Week 4 because I was at the Sensory Adventure and Foodie Show & Tell even though I was looking forward to that discussion. Alas, you can clone a sheep but not a person. Some of the things I really enjoyed: Getting a variety of perspectives on the issues. Discussing our own relationships with food. While Week 1 was dedicated to “Blessings and Mindfulness” I’d say that “mindfulness” was a running theme.
One of my favourite activities occurred during either weeks 2 or 3 (I don’t remember which) when, after a short break, we were lead through an “eating meditation” that was published in a book called God in Your Body: Kabbalah, Mindfulness and Embodied Spiritual Practice
Begin by selecting a piece of food. A bit of fruit or vegetable is good, though I often teach this practice with a potato chip — really, almost anything works. Take a moment to focus on the object before putting it in your mouth. Use the Kabbalistic map of the four worlds to help you, as described here.
1. First, on the level of the body, you might feel the food with your fingers, or just gaze at it with focused attention. What does it feel like, or look like? Allow yourself the pleasure of being entranced by this object — most food is quite beautiful, in its detail — as if you’re giving yourself a miniature spiritual retreat, right now, at your lunch table. You might smell the food too, and notice what effects doing so has on your body.
2. “Check in” next with the heart. What desires do you have? Are you hungry? Nauseated? Thankful? Or, maybe, do you think this practice is maybe not for you? Whatever the “feeling-tone” of this experience is, just note it attentively, without judgment; stay with it for a couple of breaths, and see if it shifts, or intensifies, or ebbs.
3. On the plane of the mind, consider for a moment all of the people involved in bringing this food to you. Farmers, truck drivers, factory workers, storekeepers — there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people whose labor created the simple occasion of this food arriving in this moment. Take a moment to consider them; imagine what they look like, how hard they are working to support themselves and their families, the economic system that creates the conditions for their labor.
4. And, on the level of the soul, consider all the conditions necessary to have created this food. The four elements of fire (sun), water, Earth, and air; the genetic information in the plants (or animals), which I see as part of the Divine wisdom (chochmah). Consider, in Thich Nhat Hanh’s words, all of the aspects of the universe which “inter-are” with this food. You are holding a small storehouse of the sun’s energy, and water from a cloud. Allow the poetry of this simple piece of food to be felt, in your body. It’s easy to be cynical or sarcastic. It’s harder, and more rewarding, to cultivate a moment of sincerity.
5. Then — finally! — place the food in your mouth. Before chewing and swallowing, experience the tactile sensations of the food on your tongue, the tastes, the feeling of the mouth watering. What happens to your whole body when you put the food in? Calibrate your sensitivity as finely and exquisitely as possible. See if the food tastes different in different parts of the mouth. Really give yourself a juicy, rich experience of this bit of food. You might keep your eyes closed for the duration of this practice, simply to focus your attention on what’s going on in your mouth, rather than on other things.
6. Then, bite into the food and chew, trying to omit any automatic movements. When chewing, know you are chewing. You probably know the joke about “walking and chewing gum at the same time” — this is the opposite. Do only one thing at a time. That way, the mind slows down, focuses, experiences. You are fulfilling the act of v’achalta, eating.
7. Swallow after the food has been thoroughly chewed, probably twenty or thirty times (don’t bother counting; it’s not a quiz). See if the flavor changes — some food really only comes alive after ten or more chews; some disappears. Finally, when you do swallow, see how far down your esophagus you can still feel the food. Just relax in the physical sensations of eating.
8. As your tongue cleans your mouth after this mindful bite of food, try to maintain the attentiveness that you’ve cultivated; don’t let it be automatic. We have a finite number of hours on this planet — why not be as awake as possible for each of them?
The above meditation can be done by anyone. You don’t need to believe in any god, you don’t need to belong to any religion. Omit the “soul” stuff if you want. I like the idea of thinking about the pleasure of food, of being conscious of all that went into the food production from farmers onward. In fact, occasionally I acknowledge the farmers, the animals, etc., when I’m eating. I like the statement “It’s easy to be cynical or sarcastic. It’s harder, and more rewarding, to cultivate a moment of sincerity. ” I like the idea of being conscious of what we’re eating and how it got to be in front of us.
Last night one of the participants suggested that we recite the shehecheyanu prayer on the strawberries, the first new Ontario strawberries. It was quite appropriate (before being informed that they were local, I protested that they couldn’t be, and yet tasted and looked better than imports).
Mindfulness. In a strawberry or any other morsel.
Mindfulness is a recurring food. Mindfulness is in the spirit of Petrini and the slow food movement. Petrini says that eating is an agricultural act and that if we eat consciously we become co-producers, not just consumers. He also stresses – and I shared this in yesterday’s discussion – that we all live with our contradictions, and this is a good thing.
I’ll leave you with that.
Eat well, be well.
