Eating as an environmental and spiritual act

"The act of putting into your mouth what the earth has grown is perhaps the most direct interaction with the earth."

This quote by Frances Moore Lappé in her book Diet for a Small Planet inspired me to consider the broader implications of feeding my body. The choices I make bring me closer - or push me further away - from the natural world around me. Eating a tomato harvested from my garden is nothing less than a synthesis of my body with the elements: the air, the water, the sun, the soil. Reading Lappé's quote, I realized that every meal is an opportunity to become one with the stuff of the Universe. But if eating is simply nutritious and (I hope) pleasurable, then this too is enough.