When the Community Provides
I looked at my large dinner bowl and realized different people living within the area had supplied the food I would soon eat.
The bowl was filled with the color green: cilantro, garlic chives, collards, arugula, cucumber, avocado, pesto, and spicy greens. Poke was in the middle, and on the side was some toasted sourdough bread I smoothed with blue cheese. (The blue cheese was the only item not from the market. I added that to give the body extra protein.)
My weekly routine after shopping at the farmers market is to wash, cut up, and store all the greens in the refrigerator for use throughout the week. The meal in the bowl was the result of washing and cutting up food from the market.
The cilantro, garlic chives, and arugula came from a couple who gardens at their home.
The huge collards and cucumber were from a woman who has a professional job, yet sees the importance of growing food on her property.
The poke, seasoned with onions and most likely salt, was caught and prepared by a fisherman and his family.
The pesto and avocado came from a woman who travels 30 to 45 minutes through the tropical rainforest to bring her and other people’s products to the market.
The bread is baked by someone in the tropical rainforest, and then travels the rainforest road with another person to be sold at the market.
With the land and the ocean providing, I get to be the recipient of people’s love, passion, and effort. People like me buy what others grow, catch, and make. Therefore, I get to be part of the end product. We are all part of the beautiful cycle of giving and receiving at the market.
The Hawaiian word ‘Ohana means family, but it’s more than your immediate family. ‘Ohana is your community and you are there for each other. The people who create these products and bring them to market are part of my ‘Ohana, and I am part of their ‘Ohana.
Eating well is more than nourishment through nutrients. At the market, the conversations nourish, the smiles nourish, and the exchange of laughter and hugs nourishes.
The meal is gone now. The dishes are washed, and the kitchen is clean. There is no evidence that the counter was full of food being cut earlier. But in the refrigerator, there are bags of cut up greens, containers of garlic chives and cilantro, and the bread is sliced and in the freezer. Everything is waiting for when I prepare nourishment for the body again.
Welcome to the meal.
Stacy 🌺
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I share my experiences and my perspective. Eating and healing look different for everyone. If you are struggling with food or your relationship with your body, please find support. You don’t have to do this alone.