Magical or Powerful Food?
Dove has been putting intentions into their chocolates for years, without the help of monks!
I read an interesting article in the 4/6/09 issue of “Time” magazine that talks about a new trend in food – food that has been imbued with spiritual powers. First they mention Intentional Chocolate, a company that sells triangle chocolates that have been fortified with meditations from monks. Then there is H2Om, water that is infused, not with vitamins, fruits, and flavors, but with words, colors and symbols on the package to create a vibratory frequency for love, joy and perfect health. Finally, the article mentions a company called Creo Mundi that makes protein powder. At Creo Mundi, employees gather around the product before shipping and declare the intended benefits such as balance and vitality.
So, is this a marketing gimmic? Yeah, probably. Is it just magical thinking? Possibly. Or do the actions of these companies actually confer extra powers to them? I would say maybe. After all, anyone that believes in the power of prayer has got to admit that this technique is similar (except that there’s no deity involved). Plus, many philosophers, business gurus, and spiritual guides believe in the power of positive intentions.
The founder of Intentional Chocolate, Jim Walsh, states on his site that “My intent is to reintroduce the ancient wisdom of embedding conscious intention and love into food.” Let me suggest, before we invest any money in purchasing these intention-infused products, that we take some time in our everyday lives to imbue the food we cook and consume with our own spiritual intentions. I’ve talked about the love that’s been put into the food we eat at home by our grandmothers, mothers, and anyone else that prepares a meal for us. Let’s focus on their love and intentions instead of those from anonymous strangers (whether or not we believe they have the power). The love from home cooked meals is much more palpable, if we only set our intentions on appreciating it.
P.S. If you’re curious about Intentional Chocolate, you can enter a drawing on their site where they promise to give away 1,000 free samples each week. Since I have entered, and intend to receive one of those samples, I’ll report back on its effectiveness when I do.
Sigh… We’re Being Slowly Poisoned
We don't really know what we're drinking.
The Associated Press has released a report about our water supply that I find very disturbing. They report that pharmaceutical companies have legally released 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into our waterways, much of which supplies our drinking water. And not only has our water supply been contaminated, but little has been done to track or measure the degree of contamination.
However, it turns out that manufacturing is only a small piece of this problem. We are the most significant contributor after we take and excrete the drugs that we haven’t fully absorbed.
Scientists have proven that even small amounts of these drugs can harm aquatic animals. They don’t know what the long term effects will be on humans, although research in laboratories has shown detrimental effects on human cells when exposed to trace amounts of certain drugs.
I believe that with Earth Day approaching, this issue needs to jump to the top of the list in terms of our environmental concerns. What does it matter if the earth is warming, or if our landfills are growing larger if we, and other species, are slowly being poisoned by our drinking water?
Still Lifes and Cezanne
Food = Art
We took the opportunity of spring break vacation to take the girls to the Philadelphia Museum of Art this morning. More specifically, we went to see a wonderful exhibit called “Cezanne and Beyond” which explored the influence of Cezanne on later artists. This wasn’t your typical artist exhibit which explored the life and influences of one artist but, instead, showed side by side comparisons of how other artists interpreted Cezanne’s work in their own.
I wish it were possible to take photos of all the beautiful, still life paintings in this exhibit, but I suppose that would have gotten me kicked out and my camera taken away, to the lifelong embarrassment of my children. So, I’ve created a very weak homage for your benefit in the photo above.
And looking back at so much of the great art we saw today, and on other visits to the museum, it’s striking how so much great art is merely a representation of our everyday lives. People, furniture, farms, houses, animals, and food. So let me add to my previous equations about food…Food = Fun, Food = Love, and today I’ll add, Food = Art.