Food is so important in our lives and yet many of us have no respect for it. We take it for granted. We have all been through the phase that we would not like anything home cooked.

After becoming a mother, I realized what a hard time my mother must have had with five children. Fortunately, we all liked the same things so at least that part of it was easy. We all loved potatoes in any form and any vegetable which were fried or baked. Bread also was a favorite choice with store bought butter as we had homemade, white butter. It was made from buffaloes’ milk since we had buffaloes at home.

I thought my friends to be very lucky as they ate commercial yellow butter and jams. My children did the same things. I did not have any buffaloes and therefore bought yellow butter but I did make my jams. They behaved in the same way as I did.

Now when I think about it, I realize how blessed we were to eat healthy. Food is so important and I am sure each one of you has a special memory of comfort food. Comfort food for many is sweet porridge, oatmeal, scrambled eggs, cheese toast or toast soldiers.

It is essential for us to understand what we are eating and to give our loved one’s healthy food. One can be lured by fast cooked dishes and there is a time shortage for many people who are working. Now it is difficult to even trust the pet food. So much stuff is mixed and the pet can become sick.

There was a pet food scam some years ago, when many cats and dogs died. Pets are also entitled to be given healthy food. I know that it is not easy. I have always cooked their food and this is again something my mother did. All my pets, cats and dogs lived long.

However, do we have to make a shrine to food?

One can become obsessed about food. There are so many varieties to choose from. It is essential to read the fine print before buying. I think of the children, who live on the streets with parents. Forty of them come to us. Their diet is not the best but they have white teeth and healthy hair. It is a miracle of nature and during covid, they were free of it.

Hippocrates said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” This emphasizes how important it is to eat healthily to avoid illness.

“Cooking is like love”; it suggests that cooking with care is an act of affection and love.

“When eating a fruit, remember the person, who planted the fruit tree.” It is a reminder to be thankful for the fruit and appreciate the hard work which went into making the tree bear fruit.

“How can he practice true compassion, who eats the flesh of an animal to fatten his own flesh.” Ancient Tamil text, Tirukkural. It links spiritual virtue of compassion to ahimsa and nonviolence.

Lastly there are four kinds of nutriments which enable living beings to grow and maintain life… edible food… the food of sense, impressions… the food of volition… and the food of consciousness. The Buddha taught in his discourse on the Four Kinds of Nutriments, that physical food is the only one of four types of sustenance. Craving for these different types of nourishment fuels attachment and rebirth. “Everything–including love, hate and suffering—needs food to continue. If suffering continues, it’s because we keep feeding our suffering.”

“As is food, so is the mind.” The Chandogya Upanishad provides the understanding that, “When one’s food is pure, one’s being becomes pure.” The Upanishads teach that food’s subtlest essence creates the mind, while its grosser parts form the body.

Dear ones, eat thoughtfully and be thankful.

Aim Hrim Klim