Photo: Nebarmix used under creative commons license
We know that food is the source of our energy – and in green living circles we think a lot about it. In recent decades the types of food have actually expanded – now there’s organic food, biodynamic food, authentic food, slow food.
Jump straight to: Knitlanders Living Food Template or keep reading to learn more…
Amongst all of these types of food, and the clear importance it has in making our lives green and healthy, the question ‘what is food?’ gets lost.
On one level we know food is energy from the sun that plants and animals have captured and contained in their forms.
A way, then, to think about different types of food is to think about different types of energy. Below are a few ideas about how to begin experimenting with what that might mean:
- Find Patterns with a Food Journal: Keeping a food journal might sound mundane, but, done right, I’ve found it’s a simple and surprisingly helpful way to start seeing the impact of food choices. The key is not just writing down what you ate (like traditional food journals) but also recording how your body and mind felt two hours after any meal, as specifically as possible. Once you have enough entries you can try experimenting with making small changes (i.e. changing the time of day you eat a certain type of food, eliminating or adding a food). Keep journaling and see how the experiments impact your day – your likely to find that you eat healthier and choose local (which are in season by definition) and organic foods more often. The Knitlanders Living Food Template makes it easy to begin to record these observations
- Observe Nature: Just as we can see how patterns in our food intake impact our body, we can look for patterns in nature that indicate how the planet is “feeling”. The field of biodynamics is largely based on these observations and applying them to choices about how we farm and garden
- See Your Food in a New Way: Try to see your food in a new way. Kirlian photography, which some think is a method of visually capturing the energy or “aura” of the photo’s subject, has been used repeatedly to visually compare the energy of raw and cooked food (I wonder if anyone has used it yet to compare organic and so-called “conventional” foods?). The image above of a leaf was created using Kirlian photography
For me ‘living food’ is the biological stuff that contributes to the quality of my physical energy and wellbeing. Persoanlly I prefer foods that don’t have pesticides/herbicides, aren’t very high up on the food chain, have their enzymes/vitamins/minerals in tact and that it grows up somewhere pretty close to where I imbue it. When my life isn’t too upside down I tend to end up eating a lot of raw, vegan organic food…. mmmmmmmmm!!!! did I say mmm?
Love your site. I pay an awful lot of attention to eating and drinking and appreciate your intro to the ‘way of life’ side of ‘green’. Much thanks and warm regards!
The relationship between food and -not just physical health – but a connection to our wider values is so crucial. I appreciate the links you make. The link between impressions – another kind of food – is also valuable to ponder and what Healthy Media Choices is all about.
Good to connect with fellow travellers.
Thank you!