From Joe: Many of the adults that surrounded me as I grew up needed worldly reasons to supplement the religious motives that inclined them to fast during Lent. So, in addition to wanting to follow the rituals of their church, they framed Lent as a time for losing some pounds that would improve their health or their appearance when beach season finally arrived in Chicago.
Food writer Mark Bittman talks about his new experience of fasting for moral values:
I stopped eating on Monday…By doing so, I surprised myself; after all, I eat for a living. But the decision was easy after I spoke last week with David Beckmann, a reverend who is this year’s World Food Prize laureate. Our conversation turned, as so many about food do these days, to the poor…Who are — once again — under attack…
I expect I’ll learn something about patience and fortitude while I’m at it. Thirty-six hours into the fast, my senses are heightened and everything feels a bit strange. Odors from the cafeteria a floor away drift down to my desk. In the elevator, I can smell a muffin; on the street, I can smell everything — good and bad. But as hungry as I may get, we know I’ll eat well soon…Many poor people don’t have that option
If the regular reasons for controlling your calories are not working for you, should you start thinking of your eating as a moral or political act?
Great post. I often tell people to stay out of the center of the supermarket. Those aisles have more processed foods. Stay in the fresh, refrigerated and frozen aisles for your grocery shopping.