Thursday 24 December 2009

The food we eat


this year i held the goose we are about to eat for christmas in my hand before killing it. something that makes you feel sick to do. however, that it will feed me well because of the life it had, for me, outweighs the sickness of taking the life of any creature. i feel sorrow for taking its life, and joy for the continued life it gives me and my wife, and for that i am grateful.

you are responsible for your own well-being. wellness begins with what we put in our bodies, for the food we consume. it is up to you to decide if your life is vital. how important is it to you?

meat is more nourishing than anything. i am not referring to the molecular make up of food, but to something else. no vegetable, fruit or nut has the quantity or quality of life force coursing thru it that can compare to the life of an animal, bird or fish. and it is the essential life force that nourishes us when we eat it. it is more than meat, it is life.

it does not matter if you do not see things this way. you can only find out thru your own experience.

i feel a deep connection with the past and i hope, the future, by living this way. i hope and trust that we might be able to live a life more and more closely linked to the land, to live together with it, and never have to feel a separation from it. i feel a connection to all the food we eat, the water we drink, the wood i cut. i know i would not feel the same if it all came from the supermarket. this for me is the reason why i chose to live this part of my life the way i live it. to feel one with the earth the trees the plants the birds and animals, with all life.

each year we try to reduce the amount of food we have to buy. maybe one day we will have to buy nothing. that is my dream. to not have to buy any food, or anything else. i do not imagine that the reality of it will come easily, if at all. but like many things its to take the road that is important, that is where the experience lies.

it is constantly a struggle trying to live like this, a struggle of physical and at times mental endurance. i know that it is not a struggle many would care for or appreciate, but the struggle has its own unique joy, a joy it was much harder to find or appreciate before, or to understand. i am as grateful for having the opportunity of experiencing this life we lead as i am for the life of a goose i took by my own hands.

Tuesday 15 December 2009

orange risotto



Spicy, roasted pumpkin risotto, topped off with pecorino romano..... yum. perfect for a winter evening

Winter wonderland



I've been away, driving back to the UK via the impossibly awful ferry journey from Santander to Plymouth, since I've been back the weather has finally turned, last week we hit 18 degrees on some days this week we're lucky to get above 1 degree!!! the sun has been shining though and has made the frosty white landscapes really beautiful, full of glistening light and twinklyness!!