Eat together in Peace

Eat together in Peace

I LOVE to work to create an inner and outer environment of peace. There are many ways to do this....through writing, Film making, Organising for Social Activities, educating children....and now.... through food.

Marguerite Theophil writes of two women who promote peace.... through food.

Recently, I learned of two young women, Stephanie Knox Cubbon and Hannah Renglich who first met in the United Nations mandated University for peace in Costa Rica, and found they had many things in common including a desire to promote peace in the World, and a passion for food. As they talked one day about this fusion of interest, they thought, “If we could align the way we produce and consume food with peaceful Principles, imagine the impact it could have!” and came up with the Idea for Peace Meal.

Stephanie writes. “For us, the connections were very clear. If we are Lucky enough to eat three times a day, those are three very important times that we can make choices that promote peace....within ourselves, our relationships. Our communities, and for healthy Planet.”

They suggest a three-stage expanding sense of mindful actions: promoting inner peace through the act of mindful eating; then at the interpersonal level, using meals as the opportunity to forge bonds and deepen dialogue, while at the community level, sharing food can be an act of connection and service. In this it is important to hold the thought that everyone not having enough to eat is a violation of human rights, often connected to ecological degradation, and unjust distribution of resources.

Peace Meal is a simple idea, but like many simple ideas, I believe it is one which can inspire us to deeper levels of engagement. There will be sceptics who might sneer at this, but we must understand that mindfulness in following these seemingly simple  suggestions can lead us to more active ways of addressing this issue.

There are many more different perspectives on issues of food and peace. They are also launching an online course with National Peace Academy as part of their National Peace building, Peace clearing Certificate Program. They say, “We hope that the course will provide people with concrete tools to promote peace through food, and also will help to create a Global network that is working toward this.”

Through the course they examine, the relationship between food and peace at different levels, from the personal to the Global. Participants explore how the act of daily act of eating is connected to different facets of peace, and reflect on their own place in the food system, also understanding the mostly ignored non-peaceful elements of the food system’

It is good at times, to pause and reflect on the choices each of us make s about food. It is an illusion to imagine that food is a personal matter...the production and preparation of food we consume and how we consume them, links us in a chain of connection to more people than we can really imagine. The next meal you eat ...pause for moment to thank and bless all of them. May we find simple and effective ways to practice and promote peace.