Nourish Network

It’s March first and, maybe it’s just me, but I feel like the year is already zooming by. Ironically, well before the year began I had slated March to be a time when we slowed down here on Nourish Network. Not in the sense of fewer posts or reigned in momentum, but in terms of taking a big breath and diving deeper. Into why fresh, seasonal sustainably-farmed, -caught and -raised food tastes better and is better for our bodies and the earth. Into how our communities are strengthened and nourished when we choose to eat these foods (and, by contrast, are depleted when we don’t). Into where the choices we make at the grocery store, as isolated as they may seem, really do have an impact on things like national health care; global warming; the obesity crisis and hunger in developing nations.

A “taste of the heart” is just one of the translations for “dim sum,” but it’s one I favor. I find the description carries over to dumplings too, which are a major component of dim-sum and are featured at this time of Lunar New Year as a symbol of good luck.

Imagine if it were really true. If we could go to the grocery store and fill our carts with edibles that would turn us into sexual dynamos. If a certain vegetable made our libidos soar, or a fruit intensified bedroom pleasure, or a meat or fish or beverage so transformed us that passersby would inch a little closer. If you’re a skeptic, that’s okay – but let’s take a look at some common foods and assess their aphrodisiacal impact from both a folkloric and scientific perspective.

Just about every culture spanning the globe partakes in some sort of thanksgiving benediction before consuming their food. Thornton Wilder once said, “We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” And in that way, the act of pausing to give thanks for a meal is a blessing in and of itself.

The topic of fasting may seem strange on a site dedicated to eating, but I’m going to argue that it’s apropos. Fasting—even for a handful of hours—can help you recalibrate and enrich your awareness of how food affects you physically, mentally and emotionally.