Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13
Page 14
Page 15
Page 16
Page 17
Page 18
Page 19
Page 20
Page 21
Page 22
Page 23
Page 24
Page 25
Page 26
Page 27
Page 28
Page 29
Page 30
Page 31
Page 32
Page 33
Page 34
Page 35
Page 36
Page 37
Page 38
Page 39
Page 40
Page 41
Page 42
Page 43
Page 44
Page 45
Page 46
Page 47
Page 48
www.shamansociety.org 11 glow from the foods nestled in the steam table and when I am out there checking food levels and ready to refresh quanti- ties I watch students walk in and check out the choices for lunch. As they look over the items I can see the change in them as the energy grabs them and they select the item with a sense of excite- ment. Even so I still see a lot of students walk up to the steam table or the pizza station without even looking at the food and order the same item day after day for the entire year. A 1960s alumnus of the high school of my present kitchen remembers look- ing around the cafeteria as a student and seeing it lled with many different kinds of lunches that were homemade and carried to school.3 This was a reection of the wide variety of neighborhood cultures surrounding the high school and a time when families were still vitally connected to their food traditions. What changes in the last half century In writing about the spiritual aspects of cooking Bob Makransky of Guatemala maintains that food contains light ber energy just as important to our suste- nance as vitamins and proteins although not measurable by chemical analysis. Analogous to physical nutrients being diminished by processing or overcook- ing he feels the light ber content of food can be diminished by disrespect. He equates the light bers to good feelings i.e. when we feel good we literally glow and when a food plant or animal feels good it glows. When killed for food the glow remains if the killing was done with a sense of connectedness and gratitude rather than mechanically.4 Makransky points out that in the way we process food in America today nutrients are stripped out of it and there is little nourishment for the spirit left in it. Further what small amount remains to tend our spirit is completely destroyed by the way we take it in to eat it. He says. While it is true that the original light ber energy in food can be viti- ated by disrespect anywhere along the line in handling processing cooking or eating it is also true that light ber energy being more exible than vitamins or proteins can be restored to food by respecting it and treating it as sacred by ritualizing the activities connected with it.5 When I was new in my rst high school kitchen there was scrutiny by ev- eryone and a curiosity as to what kind of person I was my cooking style and prep methods. I didnt mind being watched. Then because they noticed I seemed to be talking to the food while I worked eventually someone asked me Are you praying while you work Most of the people in the kitchen were very religious and often I had heard conversations re- garding God and the Devil. So I carefully explained that yes I was praying over the food and hoping to send healing both to the animals and plants that made the sacrice and to the children and teachers about to eat the meals. What I said was talked about among the kitchen staff and it seemed to speak to their hearts because a few days later one of them came to me to say that almost everyone in the kitchen was praying over the food with me. This set something wonderful in motion bringing a new energy to the kitchen and changing staff attitudes from contentious to cooperative. About seven weeks later one of the kitchen staff in charge of the teachers cafeteria began coming to me during lunch to say she was running out of food because many more teachers had started coming in to eat and buy lunches. Soon after that kitchen staff working on the student lunch lines reported more stu- dents eating vegetables and choosing the main entrees cooked by me. Another part of my daily ritual is my approach to processed foods. Processed foods are offered daily at the school for both breakfast and lunch and working with them has made me keenly aware Photograph by Cynthia Nado _____________________________