The Simplicity of Food

Whole foods are undeniably better for us for so many reasons. We know they are more nourishing and sustaining. Yet, I cant help but see a slight resemblance of the contrast between whole foods and processed foods with the contrast between the simple life and the modern life.

Let’s consider an apple for example – they naturally grow from a flower on a tree and when it is ready and ripe we pick it and eat it. Simple.

Now let’s look at a processed food - boxed cereal. Some start as wheat grown on the earth – a good start. But then they are harvested, sent to a factory, stripped of their nutrient goodness and processed by adding colours, sugars and flavous for an enhanced look and texture. Then they are poured into a plastic bag, wrapped in a box, put on a truck, and stacked on a shelf.

The further we get from whole foods, the unhealthier we become. Our bodies begin to react to processed foods negatively through uncomfortable symptoms or very inconvenient diseases. Is it possible that the further we also get from the simple life, the unhealthier we become? Just as we have complicated and processed simple and whole foods, we have also complicated and processed the nourishing and sustaining elements of the simple life.

We often ask ourselves, what happened to the simple life? We used to just need the sun, the rain, good soil, food in the garden and fresh air to breathe. We needed family, a few friends around us and love in our hearts. Over the years, those simple lives have added electronic devices, fashionable clothes and cars, demanding careers, destinations to visit and an insatiable desire for more.

It also seems that the further we get from simple foods and the simple life, the sooner we forget to smile, laugh and savor life as it is. It seems like a possible signal to us that in order to be healthy, we need to not only get back to simple foods, but also a simple lifestyle. That perhaps we need to clean out toxins not only from our body, but also within the lives we lead.

Beneath it all, I actually think life is still simple. We need the earth, we need the sun, we need rain, shelter and food. We need air to breathe. We need love, family and good friends. Just as its time to come back to whole foods, I have a feeling its time to connect again with the beauty of simply living life.

xoSusanne