Simple Suggestion #156... Eat mindfully, part II

After re-reading Simple Suggestion #113... Eat mindfully, I've decided I need to take another kick at it. The first time around, last Lent, I only briefly, at the very end, mentioned eating as an exercise in solidarity with our sisters and brothers who don't have enough to eat. But after a weekend at a THINKfast, during which we didn't eat for 25 hours, in solidarity with people in the global south, you could say I've rethought the afterthought status I gave that reason to eat mindfully.

On Saturday afternoon, as our stomachs began to notice the fact that we didn't eat lunch, we watched "A New Leaf" -- a documentary about the food crisis in Niger in 2012, and about how the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace partner Caritas Niger worked to alleviate hunger in the Sahel region when the crops failed due to climate change. Other factors like locusts and military unrest also can cause food shortages for the people, who become desperate and sometimes sell necessary possessions, homes, or land to buy the food they once produced -- at jacked-up prices. Organizations like CFB and CCODP work to help the farmers receive fair treatment in times of food crises, and have also been instrumental in helping them to learn farming practices that are more drought tolerant. There is much hope!

Ever since watching the documentary, I have an image in my head of families lined up, waiting for a 50lb bag of millet, a jug of oil, and a small bag of beans for feeding their family through the hungry times, along with the memory of the young women playing clapping games as they grind their millet... here's a short clip that at one point shows their grinding pestils bouncing as they work and play at the same time. (If you ever have the opportunity to see "A New Leaf," I'd recommend it. I'm hoping the full version will be available online sometime soon, because it's worth watching.)

By late afternoon on Saturday, we were all chilled and feeling a serious lack of energy. Of course, we had a variety of clear juices to drink if we wanted, but I stuck with tea, cut my insulin levels down to almost nothing, and managed just fine. When we came home late that evening and I walked into my kitchen, I was struck by how much food we have in our house -- crackers and bread in the breadbox, a stocked fridge and pantry -- while Nana, the beautiful and smiling young woman wearing green, eats from the same sacks of millet and beans for months on end, as do many subsistence farmers in the global south.

On the other hand, in North America, we've come to think that it's important, even necessary, to have a huge variety of food cooked in a huge variety of ways using a huge variety of techniques and seasonings. But is it really? How much we take for granted! How blessed, how fortunate, how spoiled are we! And how important it is to realize that... and, perhaps, to simplify, and to share our blessings and good fortune with others.

Suddenly, in my books, my brothers and sisters in need are the main reason to be mindful of the food I consume, as well as the value of the land that produces the goodness that sustains me. Solidarity is a powerful thing, because it means that we can't take our meals for granted. If we are living in Voluntary Simplicity, taking things for granted isn't an option.

On the weekend, our THINKfast raised $2000 for projects like the one in the documentary, and now I want to do more... in gratitude for every mouthful that sustains me.

So, today's challenge, should you choose to accept it, is  to think about what you eat, consider what other people in the world may (or may not) be eating, be grateful, and find a concrete way to show that gratitude.

Looking for more Simple Suggestions? Try here.

Simple Suggestion #155... Support human dignity

Lent is the time of year when the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace invites us to live in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in the global south -- or the developing world, if you prefer. As someone who does her best to practice Voluntary Simplicity, I see this as an objective that is right in line with simple living. Life in the developed world has become so materially consumptive that we could learn a lot from the simplicity with which people in the developing world live.

That's not to say that life in the global south is an ideal we want to emulate in all respects. There is so much hardship, disease, and difficulty in some places that I'm sure I wouldn't know how to cope. But in many of those places, there is also a stronger sense of community than we experience in most North American cities. We tend to think of our wealthy lifestyles as having much to offer the poor, but I suspect the poor have more things of value to teach us than we have to teach them when it comes to looking after each other.

So this weekend, our family is taking part in a Development and Peace ThinkFast, a 25 hour period of fasting (no food) that is packed with activities and education about life in the developing world. We will fast in support of D&P's partnerships with programs that promote human dignity in countries in the global south, we will raise funds for those programs, and we will learn about the needs of different communities in different places across the globe.

I really love D&P's emphasis on Human Dignity this year. I had never thought about it before, but for as long as I remember, I don't recall seeing a forlorn or impoverished-looking person in their advertising, posters, and brochures. Unlike some agencies that try to guilt people into giving by presenting pitiful pictures of the needy, D&P prefers to promote their cause with the joyful faces of people whose human dignity has been served by partnerships between people in the developed world and people in the global south who are working to lift themselves, their families and their communities out of poverty. Look at the gorgeous girls above, and you'll see what I mean. They are an example of what happens when a development organization provides assistance by working with a community rather than parachuting in to do 'for,' and flying out again without being sure that their assistance has made a lasting difference.

Even if Lent has no meaning in your life, perhaps now is a good time to give some thought to supporting an organization that works for positive change from the grassroots, or to learn about a community in the developing world and what you can do to strengthen it. Even contributing to an agency that helps local homeless people would be an excellent choice, simply because an important part of Voluntary Simplicity is showing solidarity with those who have less than we do, and offering our friendship in whatever way we can. Most of us in North America have more than enough to share during Lent... and the rest of the year, too.

What's your favourite way to support human dignity in the global south -- or nearby?

For more information about Development and Peace and its initiatives, click here.

P.S. Looking for more Simple Suggestions? Try here.

Simple Suggestion #113... Eat mindfully

One of the things I love about living in Voluntary Simplicity is that, as I live a simpler life, being mindful of all the goodness in my life just comes with the territory... mostly.

Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that I'm terribly successful at mindful eating. There are too many times that I rush through a meal without thinking, without enjoying, without being aware of all my senses and how they are engaged as I eat. It's too easy to go through the motions, to fill the belly and forget about full body satisfaction or appreciation of that which gives me life and energy. I often forget to savour the flavour.

Our friend from Winnipeg, Mark Burch, the man who brought Voluntary Simplicity to our attention, taught a course on VS at the university level. For one of his classes, he would bring in a box of oranges, one for each of his students, and teach them how to eat an orange mindfully, taking a full hour to do so. They were to be aware of every detail... how the moisture and fragrance from the orange spurted into the air as they began to peel it, how it felt in their hands, its texture and colour, the way it divided into sections, how the first bite tasted as compared to the second... you get the idea. All done very slowly, and with deep awareness.

I'm not saying that we need to be that aware of our food all the time. But as the video below explains, eating mindfully is a much healthier and happier way to go when it comes to nourishing ourselves, body and soul. For me, it's about a lot more than maintaining a healthy weight -- it's about living simply and appreciatively.

On Wednesday, our Christian calendar turned the page to the season of Lent, which traditionally is a time of  fasting, giving alms, and making peace with God and each other in preparation for the great feast of Easter. But this year, rather than "giving up" sweets or coffee or chocolate as I usually do, I am opting for being more mindful of my food... where it comes from, how it engages my senses, and how blessed I am to have enough when so many simply don't. I'm trying to employ the Seven Practices of Mindful Eating, and I will also make a donation toward helping those who don't have enough. My daughters are organizing a "THINKfast" at their school to fundraise for the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (see www.devp.org/sharelent). Monies raised will go to help with food security for our brothers and sisters in places like Africa, Brazil and Cambodia, to name just a few.

So not only can we be mindful of our own involvement with food, but we can also be mindful of the food of others. Maybe that's the eighth practice of mindful eating. All in all, a pretty good project for this Lent, if you ask me.

P.S. Looking for more Simple Suggestions? Try here.