Like many of us on the mental health spectrum, my relationship with nourishment is inconsistent. As someone with a mood disorder, this inconsistency is met with violent extremes of too much, or never quite enough; and food is no exception. I am either disinterested or obsessed with flavour and texture – concerned over the contents of my next meal, and experimental with decorating my plate with foliage from the garden. Or I simply just turn my attention elsewhere; disregarding the simplicity with which food stimulates the palate; and strengthens the spirit. In an age where food has become a commodified resource of systemic oppression — it has become increasingly apparent that owning and taking care of the body is a source of resilient activism. Recently, I have begun to appreciate and centre food as the ultimate tool for curiously working with the cycles of my body; my mind and my mood, and enacting this private activism of tenderness toward Self. When I am maintaining steady nourishment, and finding joy in every meal — I know there is a part of me that is alive and well, even when the rest of me is in crisis.
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Many faiths use food as the ultimate offering for their altars —I saw it while living in Vietnam — with freshly baked moon cakes gently placed at Buddha’s feet on a daily basis. This ritual homage, in honour of the link between spirituality and sustenance has stayed with me — as it revealed that there is innate meaning in what we eat, and how we share what we eat with the world around us. Our bodies are our foremost homes on this planet; they are the space we occupy at all times, and the vehicles of our experiences. Our bodies are the instruments with which we commune with the Universe as fleshed matter. When chaos in our outer world reigns, daily rituals of self-preservation can magnify as a source of our wellness. And while food is being politicised and appropriated — it somehow remains the nexus upon which culture and faith can be both interpreted and expressed. This piece in essence, is a short love letter to food, as our direct communion with Nature. Growing, harvesting and preparing food is an act and practice shared by all communities, across all spaces in the world. Its alchemy conjures healing — is medicinal wisdom; that we should remain curious in this world. Our senses demand it.
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