World Food Day

I'm making my blog return to celebrate Blog Action Day. This year the theme is food, as it is also World Food Day. Food is an interesting topic as the lack of it can be deadly but so can too much, or the wrong choices in food. To me it seems that once again the secret is balance. There isn't anything wrong with loving food, providing choices, developing dishes as an art form. But often, at least in America with all its abundance, we forget that food has a job. We disconnect from the idea of nourishment and too often use food as a painkiller. One with unfortunate side effects.

In the nineties my husband and I met a couple from Poland. They were in their early thirties and still adjusting to how different live was in the United States compared to their upbringing in communist Poland. I remember asking them what was the biggest adjustment for them. Without hesitation both of them answered "food". Not different styles or ingredients, but going to a store, sometimes open 24 hours, and looking at aisle after aisle of choices. Always having fresh meat and produce available. Such a simple thing. Food always available. Even with the economic hardships we have faced in the US, we still have stores filled with choices, even as some struggle to figure out how to pay for said food.

I am sure that there will be more thought-provoking conversation from experts who have ideas about how food distribution and world crisis can be solved. For me, the importance of food comes from the image I have of the the joy my sister and brother-in-law experienced when they were able to feed their infant son in the CICU. Such a simple thing that most of us take for granted. Feeding your infant. Many parents around the world, whether from lack of resources or illness, are helpless to provide the basic life requirement of nourishing their child. For this, and many other reasons, I am learning to count my blessings daily. Signing off to make my family apple pie oatmeal for breakfast! Happy blogging.