The Cost of Eating Healthy

mk’s comment on my last post about Christians and food provided a great transition for what I wish to write about today: Eating healthy is costly. I use costly as a very broad term, seeking to encompass all the different facets of cost. First, there is the price of food. Good, healthy food may cost you more financially. I am not necessarily referring to simply the high price of organic or all-natural food. Highly processed foods saturated with preservatives cost very little because our food industry is a science able to manipulate corn into anything that tickles our fancy. All-natural mac and cheese is at least two times as much as the cheapest stuff on the shelf. Free-range chicken or beef can be 3 times as expensive of those coming from feedlots or chicken houses. The disclaimer of this first point however is that fruits and vegetables really are not that expensive. Believe me. I’m not talking about the canned stuff but the fresh fruits and vegetables. I bought a jalapeno for 8 cents today. I think that’s a steal. My yellow onion: 47 cents. That 10 pound bag of potatoes: $2. Lettuce for a dollar, spinach for two. A pound of apples for $1.50, a pound of cantaloupe or bananas for 49 cents. I can hear you saying aloud, “Wow, that’s really cheap. Maybe I should start buying more fruits and vegetables.” But this brings me to the second cost – time. Eating healthy costs us our time. We have to prepare our food . . . slice the potatoes, dice the onion, boil the corn, slice the watermelon. We can’t just throw a frozen dinner in the microwave or that frozen pizza in the oven. We actually have to prepare the food. And this takes time (I must admit, sometimes I miss the caf at NWC). It’s easier to run to McDonald’s or Qdoba or Panda Express (there are a few healthy options at these places). By cooking our own food, we know what is being put into it. We are no longer in the dark of the many ingredients we don’t know how to pronounce, let alone have an idea of what they are. Lastly, we sacrifice our taste. I am not saying that eating healthy does not taste good. Rather, we have to re-train our taste buds to tell us what tastes good and what doesn’t. For example, if you don’t eat any sweets or sugars for a long time, you will begin to notice the sweetness of the fruit or the red pepper. Sweetness becomes redefined in our new diet. This isn’t an easy process and probably the worst thing to do is try and go cold turkey. But I do think this teaches us self-denial. Not only this last point, but all of them. Food is a gift. Gifts are to be cherished and not taken lightly. Too often we see food and eat it rather than thinking about where it came from and whom to give credit to for producing the food. Too often we forget that food gives sustenance to our bodies. Eating healthy means we take serious our gift of life, our gift of our physical being. But this costs us something. And these costs are what deter both you and I from eating in a healthy manner.

Word Asphyxiation

I will attempt to sum up the life of a seminarian in three words: books and papers. While that may be a gross oversimplification of what seminary is about, I do think it captures the essence of what my life is like as a seminary student (although I am tempted to add Greek translations and grammar). Everyday, I spend at least 4 hours reading. At least. And, on average, I have been writing 3 papers a week. Some of these are long (8-10 pages), others are short (3-4 pages). This may sound miserable to some of you, but to me, this is a good life. My job is essentially to read really smart people’s writings, then try to sound as smart as they do in my own writings. The latter is where the struggle exists.

Because I spend my life surrounded by words, they have almost become a part of me. I breathe them. I eat them. I dream about them. I wake up to them. A word is never just a word to me – there exists pages upon pages of scholarly work recounting the story behind this word. Simple Greek phrases draw the attention of upwards of 10 pages in English. My life is about words and how they fit together. This cause a problem. My whole life, much of my devotional life or my spirituality has been built around reading the Bible. But now I read the Bible all the time for school and even translate it. And after spending all day studying it and writing about it, I find it difficult to open it up again in the evening to read it some more. Essentially, I am drowning in words so much so that adding more words through Bible reading as a spiritual discipline, only compound the asphyxiation. And so I pray. Or participate in the divine office. Or I run. Or be quiet. Or still. Anything but surround myself with more words. Anything but take in more words than I can swallow. Once again, I am reminded of the evolution of one’s spirituality. As one’s life unfolds and changes, the way one connects with God or finds rest in God also changes. This may be an uncomfortable transition for some. Or it may be naturally. Spirituality develops and adapts as we grow up, as we mature, as we move towards completion in Christ.

Church Potlucks

This is a continuation of my series on food. This is only the second post and you will find all the posts in this series in the “Food” category.

Today I want to talk about church potlucks. This is one of my fondest memories of the church growing up . . . at times, it rivaled the excitement linked with advent looking forward to Christmas. And the worst part is, they torture you by sitting through a service first. At least that’s what I thought as a child. As I grew older, I continued to appreciate potlucks in the church, especially as a poor college student. It’s plain to me and I hope it is to you, that church potlucks are sentimental to me.

However, my view of church potlucks is beginning to change. Yes, it is great to share a meal with brothers and sisters and the company is always enjoyable. But that’s not where my problem lies. A few years ago, a friend (who is now a pastor) humorously remarked that potlucks give Christians’ an excuse for gluttony. And often times this is correct (at least in my observation). At potlucks, people tend to eat far more than they need to. They are full, but because that cherry cheesecake was so scrumptious, they go back for another piece. And then grab one of those peanut butter chocolate chip cookies on the way. And then for good measure, another one of those brownies with the cream cheese swirls. And you noticed, all these have some in common. They are all desserts. This is the other thing that makes me suspicious of church potlucks. There always seems to be at least half of the tables covered with desserts. Half!? Are you serious!? You have to look hard for the fruit and vegetables, but luckily, with the overabundance of desserts, people usually pass over these healthy entrées. And although I used to be thrilled with the variety of desserts, I no longer find myself so enthused. I care about my body and I really try hard to take care of it. Not only in regards to stress and exercise, but especially in my diet. The food pyramid that is drilled into our minds as elementary school students really portrays the proper diet well. Maybe we should start hanging those at the beginning of our potluck lines. And maybe we should talk about overeating, about being good stewards of our body, not only spiritually, but physically. Maybe we should talk about what we eat at church potlucks and maybe we should talk about eating healthy in general. And maybe the church potluck would be a great place to exhibit healthy eating. And maybe we should talk about stress-eating and fasting and denying the flesh and not satisfying every little desire that emerges from within. Maybe we should exhibit self-restrain and self-control. Maybe we should pass on that third piece of apple pie à la mode.