May your winter be a time of rest, Peace, Love and Light and your holidays filled with gratitude, good friends and family, and healthy organic food!
Like it or not, what we eat has consequences for us and for the world. Dinner is not something that just magically appears on our plates. In ordering a burger or making a salad, we are inextricably linked to the land, cycles of rain and sunshine, farmers and farmworkers, compost or chemicals, processing facilities and slaughterhouses, truck drivers and miles of highway, co-ops or corporations -- to a whole web of ecological and human activity.
"Eating is the most intimate relationship we have with the environment," explains Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of the Washington-based Center for Food Safety. "Three times a day, it's how we can re-create the world. We can shape a different future for our children, for farmer-workers, the landscape, wildlife, villages around the world, and genetic diversity.
We all want to do the responsible thing," Kimbrell continues. "Who wants to be cruel to animals and poison the soil? But what's great is that being responsible also means better health and better-tasting food you can enjoy with a greater sense of joy."
Cooking and eating good food are the cornerstones of human civilization, our daily reward for all the hard work and innumerable difficulties of life. I have a favorite story that I've heard quoted numerous times. There was once an extensive study of National Merit Scholars to find the common denominator in these bright kids' upbringing. Turns out it wasn't household income, private schools, parents' educational levels, or wealthy neighborhoods. IT WAS FAMILIES WHO ATE THEIR MEALS TOGETHER.
Please take time to enjoy sharing food and conversation this holiday season.
