Travis Eneix

My relationship with food was skewed from a very early age. Rather than eating for joy, or pleasure, or companionship, I ate to get away with something. To sneak in too much. To have what I wanted. To steal. I was a thief of food. I would sneak a mouthful of chocolate the first thing Easter morning, and when someone asked, “What do you have in your mouth?” I would sheepishly reply around the mouthful, “nuffin.”

Not so anymore. I have taken on a structure to how I eat, and wrote about this a bit in the This is my Temple post. My life used to be one long gorging. Now, I get to have three meals a day for the purpose of continuing my life, and I get to be free from food stealing in between. Food has gone from being an anesthetic for me to being a celebration.

The Sanskrit word prasada has come across my path again a few times recently, and it reminds me of the proper place for food in my life. Food is an offering. It is provided by Being (God, Spirit, Brahaman, whatever) for the purpose of my life continuing. Food is fuel. Food is also a celebration and affirmation of life, and should be enjoyed. It is a direct message that my life should continue for another day. When looked on this way the act of eating becomes an act of communion and is a moment to remember the grace which gives me existence.

If you believe that Being is a distinct entity handing out the stuff of the universe and sitting above it all, then food has been provided directly and being grateful for the food you eat is the least you can do.

If you believe that Being is the totality of all that exists, seen and unseen, and the space in which it exists, then food is a taking into the body of a portion of that creation. Food is a redistribution of the basic stuff of what is into the form of continuing life.

It is when I forget the importance of food that I get into trouble, shove in volume and binge looking for something to fill the place of Being in my life.

I have been too tired this week to post much, but I couldn’t help but mention a cool article over at Diet Blog - 7 Ways The Food Companies Fool You.

My favorite bit is number 7 -

It’s organic
It’s great to choose organic food over the non-organic counterpart - but organic candy? Or what about organic baked beans - complete with added sugar and 456mg of sodium.
The Reality: 3,500 calories of organic food is still 3,500 calories.

Someone recently recommended that I check out Michael Pollan, and the recent article he had in the New York Times titled Unhappy Meals. It’s a terribly good, and frightening read. As a result I ordered his new book The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. I am looking forward to reading it greatly.

The article begins with some very solid advice on eating -’Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.’ It goes on to expand on that statement, and to give a historical analysis for why Americans are moved to eat too much.

The article ends with nine great points on eating, and living, in a more healthy manner. I will paraphrase them here, but do yourself a favor and read the whole thing. It’s brilliant.

1. Eat food. Though in our current state of confusion, this is much easier said than done. So try this: Don’t eat anything your great-great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.

2. Avoid even those food products that come bearing health claims. They’re apt to be heavily processed, and the claims are often dubious at best.

3. Especially avoid food products containing ingredients that are a) unfamiliar, b) unpronounceable c) more than five in number–or that contain high-fructose corn syrup.

4. Get out of the supermarket whenever possible. You won’t find any high-fructose corn syrup at the farmer’s market; you also won’t find food harvested long ago and far away.

5. Pay more, eat less. The American food system has for a century devoted its energies and policies to increasing quantity and reducing price, not to improving quality.

6. Eat mostly plants, especially leaves. Scientists may disagree on what’s so good about plants–the antioxidants? Fiber? Omega-3s?–but they do agree that they’re probably really good for you and certainly can’t hurt.

7. Eat more like the French. Or the Japanese. Or the Italians. Or the Greeks. Confounding factors aside, people who eat according to the rules of a traditional food culture are generally healthier than we are.

8. Cook. And if you can, plant a garden.

9. Eat like an omnivore. Try to add new species, not just new foods, to your diet.

Sometimes you just have to get nostalgic. Here’s my review of an old haunt -
“Back when I was a full-time fatty (I used to tip in at 396) this was my favorite place to get Apple Fritters. Hands down the best, and maybe biggest, in the city. I used to buy 3. One for the wooble back to the car. One for one-handed stuffing while driving home. And, one for back home on my couch. Pure sugar-adled bliss!

Now that I care about my health I no longer frequent this fine establishment. But, for those of you who can eat such things and not bloat up like a Macy Day float this is the place to get sugar doughy warm evil goodness!”

Here’s my review of Range over at Yelp-

“I have been to  Range several times and have never had anything but good service and great food.  The custom cocktails are usually exciting and yummy, and the regular list is wonderful.  The staff is pleasant and accommodating, and they take the time to dish out personal attention without being buddy-buddy.

It can feel a bit tight at times, but this is San Francisco so that’s not much of a ding.

The only downside I can see would be if I was a vegetarian.  I am not thankfully, but the selections and preparation care definitely favor the meat dishes.”