Harm Free Food as Hospitality

It was a Monday and I was listening to my favorite podcast, The Rich Roll Podcast. Rich and his guest, Guru Singh, started talking about the importance of how food is prepared. – not just physically but also energetically. I knew that what I ate mattered, but I hadn’t put much thought into the energy that would be transmitted through food. Rich told the story about how he was at a retreat and they were eating this beautiful, delicious plant based food but several people started to notice that after they ate, they did not feel very well. It turned out the person preparing the food in the kitchen was having serious personal problems and she was very depressed and upset when she prepared the food. Her negative energy was being transmitted into the food and it was making several people feel bad. Rich also talked about a doctor he recently met, Dr. Zach Bush, a triple board-certified physician with expertise in Internal Medicine, Endocrinology and Metabolism, and Hospice/Palliative care, who confirmed that emotion is passed on through food. Rich is trying to have Dr. Bush on his podcast and I looked forward to learning more.Then later that day, I was unwinding by watching Ellen. Her guest was the very funny comedian Tiffany Haddish. Tiffany told the story of taking collard greens to a pot luck at Taylor Swift’s house. She called them joyful greens because she smiles when she picks them, she smiles when she washes them, she smiles when she cuts them up and she smiles when she cooks them – joyful greens!The next day I found myself in the unexpected position of having to wash and chop 8 large tomatoes and 4 heads of lettuce. As I was chopping the tomatoes, I thought of what Tiffany said about smiling while she made her greens and I thought about what Rich said about the energy of emotion being transmitted through food so I made sure I smiled while I chopped. I also imagined the food I was preparing blessing people and filling them with good healthy harm free food. I was surprised to learn how much I enjoyed preparing the tomatoes and lettuce. I loved that I had a part in preparing joyful food for people and the practice of smiling made me more joyful as well. I felt called to prepare harm free food for people so we started Souper Soul Wednesday at Retreat House.The goal is to prepare a meal that everyone at the table can eat. I am trying to make every meal be oil, animal product, sugar and gluten free. If you have another allergy (like nuts) be sure and let me know so I can accommodate for it. My goal is to have a meal that is harm free and that everyone at the table can eat so no one feels left out or different. We all eat the same thing and the food we eat does not cause any harm to our bodies, animals or the environment.Preparing the meal has become a meditative practice for me. I make sure I smile while I am preparing the food. When I chop, I just chop. I send up prayers for the people who will be eating the food. I pray that the food is healing and life giving.This week’s soup was White Bean and Veggie Soup:4 cups vegetable broth2 cups water1 onion, chopped4-6 carrots, chopped2- 15 oz. cans cannellini beans2 cups kale1 cup small elbow pasta (whole wheat if not needing to be gluten free)juice of 1 lemonsalt, pepper, dried thyme, dried basil and garlic – all to taste.In a large pot, sauté the onion in a small amount of broth. Then chop up garlic and add it. Continue to sauté while pealing and chopping carrots. Then add carrots and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Add remaining broth, water, beans and spices. Bring to boil and cook for 20-30 minutes (until carrots soft). Add pasta and cook for a little less than recommended cooking time. Turn off heat and add kale and lemon juice. Let sit for about 5 minutes (stirring occasionally) to cook kale and noodles.Blessings,Deanna