Respect your food respect yourself

I want to talk about food, surprised I am sure.  More to the point I want to talk about reverence for life and how I believe that relates to what & how we eat.    This is a big, broad topic that is controversial.

Food and water are our sources in this physical world.  Without them our bodies cannot function meaning you and I do not exist. The nutrients that we receive from what we eat keep us healthy and alive.  Depending on what we eat and what is in our food it also has the power to take us down.  It is a choice everyday, it is our choice.  Will we respect our bodies and feed them whole, healthy, real foods or crap being paraded as food?

Because we have lost the importance of food in the modern world we have also lost respect for it.
In doing so we have let go of respect for our bodies.  Here in the US we have abundant supplies of what passes for food.  There are fast food restaurants on just about every street cornor, grocery and convenience stores too.  Those isles are filled with stuff we feed our bodies, some of it is even fortified with micronutrients to make us feel better about eating it.  Our ancestors did not have these things and it wasn't that long ago that the grocery store was ours or our neighbor's backyard or field or the depending on our geographic location the nearest lake, river, ocean or woods.  The foods we harvested from these places were rich in natural nutrients that helped us live and would be passed onto us as we consumed them bringing the circle of life together.  Plant or animal it didn't/doesn't matter.  They had life, we took it and used it to sustain our own.  And in those times food was respected because our ancestors understood that without it they would get sick and die.  Native Americans had/have rituals of respect for the animals they killed thanking them for their sacrifice and the life that they are passing on to humans.  WHY don't we all have that practice everyday in our homes and communities?  I believe plant foods deserve the same.  I believe that we must treat the foods and water sources we consume as the sources that they are because without them we are no more. 
A bag of chips, a factory farmed piece of meat and a glass of soda are sources of illness so I am not asking you to thank them although that animal from the factory farm who gives us sick meat was forced there and made to live a desperate, tortured life by the very species that it will make sick .  The same type situation goes for the GMO foods and heavily sprayed, etc. crops. Our waters are polluted to the point that we put special filters on our faucets or buy special filtering pitchers just to be able to drink some form of pure water.  We have bastardized our sources of life and in so doing lost respect for them and for ourselves.
Eating should be a pleasurable experience that nurtures and nourishes yet many of us find shame, confusion and pain when we sit down to eat.  If we sit down to eat.  We can change this.  Give a damn about yourself and about your food sources.  Eat simple, real, whole foods that give life like fresh, local veggies, fruits,meats, fish and dairy.  Shop at your FARMER'S MARKETS, co-ops, local stores and if you do not have access to these request that your grocery store begin to carry some of these choices.  That might require a bit of research on your part but you are worth it and the gift that you will be providing to your community is priceless.  Eat with mindfulness that what you are putting into your mouth should be helping sustain health and wellness and it came from a life of its' own to help you do this.  Thank your food.  You don't have to do it out loud but try doing it and see how it changes your attitude while eating.
Reverence for life, all life, comes full circle just as disrespect does.  The responsibility and choice is ours.