We are how we eat

 We are how we eat.

I am not talking about fast or slow, sitting or standing. 

I am not even talking about the proportions of proteins and vegetables, sugars and carbohydrates -- although this is part of it, of course. 

I am talking about how we eat. Conscious, ethical, principled eating. 

If we practice principled eating, we will be a principled society. 

We will consider the farm laborers, their working conditions, health and wellbeing, and fair pay. We would revere farmers for their god-like ability to bring forth creation season after season. All the hands and all the expertise that go into bringing food to life, and to our tables, would be appreciated, not exploited.

We will hold pigs and cows in high esteem as part of the web of life. We will seek to be in relationship to our food, understanding its nourishing value, not just filling our mouths and bellies. Nothing would suffer for our gain, because we would understand that any suffering is our own suffering.

We would respect the land, be stewards of seeds and the gifts of nature. We would understand that to harvest, we must also sow. We would integrate our meals with the cycles of nature, celebrating the time for each root and berry and leaf to shine.

Conscious, ethical, principled eating would make it impossible to imagine mass slaughterhouses where immigrants displaced from their own lands toil hour after hour for miserable pay. It would be impossible to imagine spraying plants and soil with toxic chemicals -- and then feeding those plants to our children! It would be impossible to see anyone begging for food on the street. 

If we base our actions on our principles first - center the sacred principle in our lives, our decisions, our meals - everything shifts into alignment.