Happy Food
Feeling Organic Happiness – A Tale of Two Vegetables ...

by a Student

 

I have liked the idea of organic foods for a long time, but never wholeheartedly adopted a strict policy in buying them. Until recently I had not really made an effort to buy organic produce, although I did subscribe to the common theory that things taste much better when they are less 'tampered' with. It was one of those things on my ecologically sound 'to do' list that I had never got around to doing.

However, the gnarly avocadoes and somewhat less glossy looking tomatoes that jumped into my trolley at the supermarket the other day changed my mind. Keen as they were to escape, I took pity on their relative shabbiness and diminuitive shapes compared to their primped and pumped up counterparts, and decided to forego the increased cost to give them a happy home, and help their cause.

They waited an entire day for me in the fridge before we became fully acquainted. As I washed and handled the ripe avocado and his friend the plump tomato I felt something quite distinctly different about them … they felt 'lighter', nicer, dare I say, more happy!

I shook my head in disbelief at first, and laughed at my mind and it's tendency to project feelings onto everything. However, being a somewhat curious and scientifically minded person, I decided to test the hypothesis, even if it was to disprove myself.

I experimented by picking up and squeezing gently the other non-organic companions present at the feast that day. The cucumber, the lemon, the lettuce … they were all subjected to non-harmful fondlings to ascertain their state of ... being? I was working with the assumption that they would feel just as good as my slightly battered looking friends.

But to no avail – they felt more heavy, depressed even! I wondered how much of this was true feeling and how much was my mind. I was convinced that it was not a weight thing, but an energy thing. Anyway, I dismissed the conundrum and went ahead with the preparation of the feast, (for the sake of any squeamish readers, I will not go into the details here!).

I went outside into the garden and sat in my green deck chair in the warm afternoon sun. As I was reading my magazine and savouring the crisp, perfect salad I suddenly realised that the two flavours that were the most enjoyable were … you guessed it, the soft, creaminess of the avocado, and the sweet, tart, rich, fleshiness of the tomato. Their presence in the salad was so rejuvenating and memorable!

I wondered about my friends. Suddenly it felt wrong to inflict chemicals on living things who had no choice, and it seemed like a form of abuse. Fruits and vegetables had a right to be happy. Did my friends Mr Avo and Miss Tom, messengers of this realisation, taste better because they were not getting ‘abused’ by the chemicals and methods of modern agriculture? Had they lived a finer life in harmony with nature, and therefore did this purer energy permeate their very fibre, and in turn transmute into a happier eating experience? Or could my body naturally sense the absence of chemicals, and this was what made it seem more enjoyable to my senses?

I don't know the answer. But I know I will definitely look forward to the next organic fruit or vegetable I eat – for a small culinary epiphany is a sure way to get good food for thought!

 

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