Fast Food Is Slow Food
Posted by Eric (March 16, 2007 at 2:03 pm)
This Lent I’ve been taking a lot more time with my food, eating more carefully—this at the urging of my wife, who has not liked to see me living primarily on almonds, dried fruit and Clif bars.
It may seem contradictory to the whole spirit of fasting to pay more attention to one’s food. Perhaps it would be better to be like St. Francis, who ate whatever stale hunk of brown bread might be dropped into his bowl. But even Francis would eat that hunk of bread with true pleasure.
In any case, I’ve been making an effort to eat well, even while eating less—to eat plenty of fruits, vegetables and natural whole grains, and to take the time to prepare my own meals rather than packaged, prepared foods. It’s been a good experience, not only for me but for the whole family, since I’ve taken over some of the cooking (especially on Sundays), and left-overs mean more meals we can eat together.
I find that I have a much greater appreciation of food when I take the time to prepare things myself—which opens up the possibility of deeper gratitude to the