4/30/2012

A table for two


In the last years I couldn’t help to notice an increasing demand and attention for quality food: bio products and organic fruits and vegetables. Which is a very good thing. Step by step we’re getting closer to what agriculture should be, to what it used to be for us, for our animals and for the lands.
At the same time I couldn’t help to notice an increasing tendency towards sickness. And even though medicine developed a lot, technologically speaking, giving the possibility of tracking down severe diseases in very early stages of evolution, and new drugs are to be found in hospitals and pharmacies, we get sicker and sicker as years go by.
Sure, the factors are numerous: air pollution, radiations, noise pollution, the city hastiness, the apparent lack of time that makes us constantly live in a hurry and so on… But we all want a better life and for that maybe the easiest thing to be changed is our way of feeding.

What we seem not to have noticed yet is that the way we eat and the attitude we have during our meals are just as important as food itself if not more important.
It matters if we are calm and comfortable when we sit down to eat, it matters if we eat consciously and by that be aware of how our meal really tastes, aware of whether we really like it not, aware of the effect it has on our body and aware of whether the kind of food we eat is a necessity for us or not. It matters if we are grateful for the generous gifts of the land or for the sacrifice of the animal who's meat we are consuming. 

If we don’t keep in mind these “minor details” as well, no matter how bio or organic our food is it will always be ineffective. 
It will always be alimentation instead of nourishment.   




Am remarcat in ultimii cativa ani, o tot mai mare cerere si atentie pentru alimente de calitate:  produse bio si fructe si legume organice. Ceea ce este un lucru foarte bun. Ne indreptam astfel incet, incet catre ceea ce ar trebui sa insemne agricultura, catre ceea ce a insemnat agricultura odata. Pentru noi, pentru animalele noastre, pentru pamant.
In acelasi timp, am mai remarcat si o tendinta crescuta catre a ne imbolnavi. Si chiar daca medicina a evoluat mult din punct de vedere tehnologic, oferind posibilitatea depistarii unor boli extrem de grave in stadii incipiente de evolutie, iar noi si noi medicamente pot fi gasite in spitale si farmacii, devenim tot mai bolnavi pe zi ce trece.  
Desigur, factorii sunt numerosi: aerul poluat, radiatii, poluarea fonica, graba neintrerupta a orasului, aparenta lipsa a timpului ce ne determina sa ne traim vietile mereu pe fuga s.a.m.d… Insa cu totii ne dorim o viata mai buna, iar in acest sens, poate cel mai usor lucru de facut este sa ne schimbam obiceiurile alimentare.

Ceea ce insa nu pare ca am fi remarcat inca, este faptul ca modul in care mancam si atitudinea ce-o avem in timpul mesei sunt la fel de importante ca mancarea insasi, daca nu chiar mai importante.
Conteaza daca ne simtim calmi si confortabili cand ne asezam la masa, conteaza daca mancam in mod constient, putand simti astfel adevaratul gust al mancarii, daca aceasta ne place cu adevarat sau nu, ce efect are ea asupra organismului nostru si daca alimentele pe care le mancam ne sunt necesare sau nu. Conteaza daca suntem recunoscatori pentru poamele generoase ale pamantului sau pentru sacrificiul animalului a carui carne o consumam. 

Daca nu vom avea  in vedere si aceste “mici detalii” , indiferent de cat de bio sau organica ne este mancarea, acesta va fi mereu ineficienta.  
Va fi mereu doar alimentatie, nu hranire.  






Yanni - Nightingale

8 comentarii:

  1. My dear friend Roxana, your text is perfect! Your words of wisdom come as precious knowledge to our minds...
    yes, we have to atempt to the quality of food we eat and if the agriculture is organic but, as you say, if we do not have a good attitude all the quality that we look for will be lost...
    Your words sound in a perfect harmony with the images of the table acessories for the meals you made!!
    Everything is so beautiful! Certainly it is a poem for the eyes and for the sensibility!!
    Congratulations for all!!
    Thanks for your friendship!
    It makes me feel a better person!
    Hugs from south Brasil with a cold weather arriving this autumn!

    RăspundețiȘtergere
  2. My dear Vera Vaz,

    I've made this set thinking that no matter how simple or generous the meal is, the pleasure of having a food of your taste shared with a loved one is all that's important.
    Thank you for your beautiful words, they are the best reward I could wish for in exchange for what I do! Your beautiful poems and deep thoughts are a rich source of inspiration for me as well!

    I'm returning your hugs, from an unexpected... summer beginning in Romania (we had 27 Celsius degrees today). Stay warm and take good care of yourself!

    RăspundețiȘtergere
  3. Hi Roxana,

    What lovely luncheon mats of your own making! That speaks for itself; how you think about what and how you eat.
    The other day, a friend of mine and her husband came to stay at my house. It's been a long time since we saw last. She is a small eater but with a help of a little alcohol and a lot of catching-up to do, before we knew it, most of things I prepared were gone. That was a satisfied dinner.

    The music is great. I didn't know Yanni
    but now I'm interested in his music.
    Thank you for sharing, Roxana!

    RăspundețiȘtergere
  4. Hello, Keiko!

    I am happy you like my placemats, I had a good time making it.
    I'm sure dinner with your friends the other day was great! I would say times like that make the best meals possible, because we share with our dear ones not only the part of ourselves we've put into the food we cooked, but even more.

    Yanni is one of my favorites so I'm glad if I managed to catch your interest for his music!

    Have a good day and a sunny week ahead!

    RăspundețiȘtergere
  5. I saw the placemat with a pocket for cutlery for the first time. I like the embroidery, the colors, and the design, and the way you took pictures of them as well. You always know how to make your works look most attractive by your photography. Eating homemade meals, which is served on the lovely placemat like yours, enjoying conversation with families or friends, becomes the most effective nourishment. Cooking is one of the best ways to show our love as love means to make others happy. Even when the heart is occupied with sadness, women stand in the kitchen with apron to fix a meal..... life is beautiful no matter what happens, isn’t it?

    “Nightingale” by Yanni is so impressive. Oh, the sound is so ethereal, and I like the melody as well.

    I’m glad to tell you this that my mother left hospital yesterday. She was cured for the infection but still has problems with heart and colon. I hope she lives in peace with self-management, medication, and love of family.

    See you.

    Yoko

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  6. Dear Yoko,

    I'm glad your mother is feeling better and I'm sending you my best of wishes and thoughts for her to continue living a peaceful, green life with self-management just as I understood she did before. Thank you for sharing the good news with me!

    Your comment "Even when the heart is occupied with sadness, women stand in the kitchen with apron to fix a meal....." touched my heart. You have such a great gentleness and sensibility in putting a general truth into words!
    It's true we eat to live not the other way round, but I know how important is to have a meal (no matter how poor and simple) together with our loved ones, especially in hard times. And yes, life is beautiful but I'd be lying if I said I never thought otherwise...
    I don't know, I'm thinking we start appreciating life better with age. Not because we're afraid of dying as some people say but because we get to understand it and become more aware of its miracle.
    In tune with life's beauty I've just remember an old Native American teaching who sounds something like "think about every day as a loan and try to spend it wisely"...

    See you,

    Roxana.

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  7. Hello, roxana.

      The work including spring.
      The vitality of the heart is made to arise.

      I am glad of your visit, though each other is far distantly.
      The prayer for all peace and healthy.
      
    Have a good weekend. From Japan, ruma ❃

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  8. Hello, ruma.

    Thank you for your beautiful words of appreciation!
    For me it's a joy visiting your blog. It gives me the opportunity to learn new things about you and your country as well as to discover things we have in common, even though far distantly and culturally different.

    Have a good week ahead and a happy spring!

    RăspundețiȘtergere