Gratitude Through Food

Thanksgiving is here, and like everyone else, I think it’s important to pause and reflect upon all the things that I’m grateful for. After my family, health, and safety, the biggest thing I am grateful for is, of course, good food!

This got me thinking: In what ways can we show gratitude through food?

1. Prepare a meal for someone you love.
2. Purchase organic food. Voting with your dollars matters: if you want to show gratitude for this beautiful earth that we are fortunate to inhabit, then spend your dollars on food that comes from responsible farmers and producers, and will promote the health of our planet and all creatures on it.
3. Quietly enjoy a meal alone, undistracted. Enjoy the flavors and textures and appreciate the sensations and emotions that food can evoke.
4. Don’t make food the enemy: For many who are dieting, it’s easy to have an unhealthy relationship with food. It is a great privilege to not worry where your next meal is coming from - food is not your adversary.
5. Donate to an organization that is fighting hunger in your community. Be grateful that hunger is not a challenge you face daily.
6. Honor food as (preventative) medicine. Appreciate how miraculous our bodies are at keeping us healthy and fit, if only we give them the fuel they need.
7. Try something new. Enjoy this abundant time period and geographic area that we live in: We can waltz into a grocery store and find foods from all over the world. So many people don’t have this luxury, even today. Revel in it! Try something new and get creative.
8. Honor a family member, past or present, by preparing one of their recipes. Reflect on this person and what they meant to you. Pass along the recipe to continue the tradition.
9. Learn about your culture or another culture through its food: Find a great cookbook and try recipes that are new to you. Reflect on the people who enjoyed these meals over the centuries, and their rich lives and stories.
10. Take a cue from other cultures and truly respect animal products, if and when you consume them. Recognize that meat is not just a product at the store, but was once a living being. Honoring and respecting this doesn't make you overly sensitive - it makes you human!

What are the ways that you show gratitude through food? I’d love to hear from you in the comments. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am also beyond grateful to work with people who value food and who bring integrity and good work ethic to our kitchen every day: a big shout out to John Adams and Ruby Telthorster, who make The Wildflower Chef possible.