What is food?

What do you imagine
when you think about food? Pleasure, need or nutrition… Do you crave something tasty
that could give you comfort? Or do you want something useful,
to provide energy for a moment? We usually consider food delicious
and edible, based on our culture. So many food varieties
make us create an identity, that reflects our personal preferences, regarding the offerings from one place or a specific time in history. Also, our attachement with specific foods
creates a portret of our personality. It can define our relationship with
another or with our emotional eating. But, often we forget that most of the time
we are just being tricked by the industry, our society
and our monkey minds, about what we actually need
to put on a plate. For exemple, we know that
sugar, salt and fat are hidden in almost every mass made
product for reasons like preservation
and taste appeal, but also the industry knows
we can’t resist them. Rarely do we take in consideration
the choices we make regarding the nutritional value
of our food, and the side effects
of our consumption. The misinformation
regarding our body’s needs, in this particular period of time,
has lead us to poor decisions, when we should focus more
on whole fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts… hmm… It’s not our fault,
we just need better education and media in the future. We can always “vote” with our money
against the system, not believing the industry
financed studies which lead to irrelevant evidence. There are some better alternatives, we just need to peek around the corner. By chasing the pathways of our food,
we can also see it can provide us with quality time spent together, it can teach us about
sharing and understanding, because quite often,
food is better with another person around. But, shouldn’t we ask ourselves
how our food is being produced? And, what type of food we want to share? Also, what are the intentions behind
and what’s the cost? We should put a question mark
on the healthy foods that our society promotes,
especially when we already know that live stock is the primary contributor
to climate change. At the same time, we need to address
the violence caused by this industry, which engages in unethical treatment
of other beings, just because there is a great demand
on animal products… Why so much suffering, when there is
no need to consume any products like meat, dairy and eggs? These are the leading cause
of our number 1 killer worldwide, heart disease and most of the illnesses
we develop these days in our modern world. Is our taste responsible for this demand? and is it really worth it? What do you think, are we using food
as a tool, a pretext of solving our personal problems? Why we eat, when or what type of food
we unawarely pick, and most of all, how we produce our food
can have a huge impact on the quality of our lives. By being aware of our daily needs,
we can address them directly and properly. “It’s not a piece of cake, but we
can stop chasing a bull’s tail…literally” Suppressing our issues with food
that can’t provide fulfilment, will raise a demand for
unhealthy processed foods, that will disrespect our bodies,
will destroy our environments and hurt other species,
with whom we share this earth. So, we’re just wondering… what does food actually mean nowadays? Is it taste and comfort,
a need for survival, a package of nutrients, a way to be togheter with others, a cultural identity? And, last but not least, are we really aware of the impact
it has on our world?