In many cultures and religions, there is a tradition of offering thanks before eating. We recognise the blessing of having food, acknowledge that other living things die so that we may eat, and that while we eat others go hungry.
Many traditional cultures also eat a much simpler, more natural diet than we do in the west. However there is a tendency for indigenous peoples to be content with what they have, and offering thanks is one way of expressing this.
A respect for food and contentment with what we have, both develop a healthy attitude towards what we eat. Giving thanks and eating simply are ways we can experience greater health and vitality, as well as a deeper connection with the earth from where our food came.
Contentment and simplicity go hand in hand. If we always require complicated, exotic and expensive food items in order to be content, we are missing the point (although these things can be a wonderful celebration on special occasions).
Eating a humble yet delicious diet of fresh, seasonal, and regional foods whenever possible, brings an element of joy and lightness to eating. Such simple eating means stepping away from the Standard Australian Diet (S.A.D) of dense yet nutritionally empty processed foods, unnecessary supplements and complicated “health food” products.
By offering thanks, we recognise the miracle of life that produced our food, the macrocosm in the microcosm, the big in the little. In simplifying our diets, we reduce the environmental costs of production as well as our own intake of preservatives. And by understanding the beauty of simplicity, we can experience true contentment with not only our food, but with our bodies and with the force that created the foods that nourish our bodies and souls.
Many traditional cultures also eat a much simpler, more natural diet than we do in the west. However there is a tendency for indigenous peoples to be content with what they have, and offering thanks is one way of expressing this.
A respect for food and contentment with what we have, both develop a healthy attitude towards what we eat. Giving thanks and eating simply are ways we can experience greater health and vitality, as well as a deeper connection with the earth from where our food came.
Contentment and simplicity go hand in hand. If we always require complicated, exotic and expensive food items in order to be content, we are missing the point (although these things can be a wonderful celebration on special occasions).
Eating a humble yet delicious diet of fresh, seasonal, and regional foods whenever possible, brings an element of joy and lightness to eating. Such simple eating means stepping away from the Standard Australian Diet (S.A.D) of dense yet nutritionally empty processed foods, unnecessary supplements and complicated “health food” products.
By offering thanks, we recognise the miracle of life that produced our food, the macrocosm in the microcosm, the big in the little. In simplifying our diets, we reduce the environmental costs of production as well as our own intake of preservatives. And by understanding the beauty of simplicity, we can experience true contentment with not only our food, but with our bodies and with the force that created the foods that nourish our bodies and souls.
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