Where Does Your Food Really Come From?

The Every Level Wellness retreat taught me a lot of things but one of the moments I loved the most was when we did a lesson in mindfulness- using food. If you ever want to truly appreciate what you put in your mouth then read on….

Hold an item of food in your hand, we did this exercise with a cranberry but let’s take a slice of cucumber for FROG’s sake.

Firstly let’s think about where it came from. Go right back to the beginning of its existence. Think of the seed that it grew from. Consider the sunshine, rain and nutrients that nurtured the parent plant into a vine, in turn allowing the flower to form from which this particular cucumber was able to grow.

Think of the time that small bud of a cucumber took to mature, the weather and sun that it endured. The bees and insects that buzzed past it in that time, and once matured, bring your attention to the farm hand that picked it off the vine. The picking bag it may have been placed in and then how it was transported back to the farm shed to be sorted. The hands that placed it in the box to be transported away from the farm, and then the journey it took to make it up to our FROG packing shed.

Once at FROG it was placed in a container by one of our packers, and then transported to your box (lucky you!). Think of the last stage of its journey as it was transported from FROG HQ in one of our vans, then collected by you and taken to your place where you probably unpacked it and placed it in the fridge (if it didn’t get munched on straight away by hungry little people).

Finally consider what happened to it as it was prepared and placed on your plate- bringing you to this moment in time. Admire the long journey that one piece of cucumber took to be sitting in your hands in this moment.

Now bring your attention to how it looks… Study it, the smooth yet slightly bumpy skin, the wet looking interior, the small seeds suspended in that shiny center. What else can you notice?

Lastly, place that piece of cucumber in your mouth and slowly, veeeeery slowly experience every part of it. Feel the texture on your tongue, the feeling on your teeth as you bite down on it. Eat it slower than you have ever eaten anything before. Taste it, appreciating the flavours… a piece of cucumber will never have tasted so good- I promise!

The world is full of magic, and even in the small things there is so much to be grateful for.

Although this was an exercise in mindfulness, I also think it’s so important to take the time to stay connected and aware of where our food comes from, it’s only then that we can truly be grateful for what we have and the energy taken for it to get to us.

Enjoy!

Celine