Food and Consciousness

#1

Food has a subtle energy that we can feel but not see. A profound influence on our state of mind, health and even things like dreams. It can heal or hurt. For example McDonald’s versus wild venison with pine tea. Some other examples: milk makes me feel like a baby and puts me in a state of mind that is disconnecting from the forest. Tropical food like bananas and even wild apricots make me feel connected to another ecosystem and make me colder in the winter. Kale and other hybrid species that are very changed from their wild species like oranges make me feel weakened and disconnected from the land so I stay away from them. Farmed mushrooms I also always stay away from because they are very sensitive to farming and change tremendously. Take wild maitake mushroom for instance, it tastes very rich and complex with a hint of onion or something while farmed maitake tastes lemony. Wild oyster mushrooms are completely different than farmed oyster. Wild blueberries completely different than farmed. Wild rice completely different than paddy grown hybrid wild rice. Wild deers happy free life can be felt while farmed deers oppressed life can be felt. For me personally I refuse to even eat at restaurants and cook organic with clay (use glass teapot) which eliminates heavy metal poisoning from metal cookware, pesticides etc. When I eat wild food exclusively, I feel transformed, my dreams eventually get super vivid and I gradually start to feel like my mind functions at much higher level. So I try to set myself up to not to eat any farmed food for long periods. Not even a bite. Its possible but really not easy to do in a messed up ecosystem without much free time and its not hard to get tempted and slip out of the streak. It’s much easier to hold if you’re in the right area and hit the harvest seasons. Sometimes fasting is needed to overcome a several day period of no wild food. Medicinal teas and smoking wild plants (smoking like Black Elk mentioned in Black Elk Speaks) helps to overcome hunger. The reward is incredibly mind blowing after months and keeps growing…

What are your experiences with food affecting your life (state of mind, emotions, dreams, learning, strength etc?)

#2

I like to eat with my eyes closed, though it’s often difficult because people ask why. My eyes sometimes water as well. With each bite, even processed foods, I feel grateful for the life that gives itself to mine. When I tear into a steak or fresh fruit, I’m filled with a deep primal satisfaction as I fulfill such a basic need. Every creature we ingest has a different gift to share.

My body is extremely sensitive to most processed foods, but I’ve never had a problem with milk or grain. When I drink milk, especially fresh rich whole milk. I feel a bond with the other mammals we call cousins. There are so many little things we share with even our most distant relatives.

I’ve also been foraging a lot more lately. Family matters have brought me back to the city, but I’m amazed with how much food grows wild here. I was skeptical of eating from such polluted soil at first, but it’s no worse than the grocery store; a steel mill can’t be worse than Monsanto. At least I see the plant people here from seed to harvest.

Just found Cherokee plum yesterday. Not many are ripe yet, but they’re getting there. Walnuts seem a bit early this year, found several patches of wild carrot, and I almost tracked down some persimmon. Followed a bunch of rotten fruit to what does appear to be a persimmon tree, but the tree itself was bare of fruit. Hopefully they’ll be more.

The town is rampant with raspberry and blackberry, at least when they’re in season; seem about done for the year now. Never a lack of wild onion though. Now that I’ve started foraging in earnest, I can’t wait to see what each month has to offer. I always leave more than I take, the deer and coyotes moving in need what they can get, but I snack on a little bit of everything. What grows together should be eaten together.

While I’m not expecting to find a lot until the human monstrosities have fallen, it’s always nice to see what little prairie remains in Illinois. Missouri is way more abundant, but I’m sure I’ll miss some treasures here when I move back to the Ozarks. May be more game there, but I’ve made many friends here. A lot of old mimosas and cypresses I’ll hate to leave.

I’m becoming more and more satisfied with the wild food my homeland offers. Many cousins to the exotic produce I’ve grown up spoiled on. Nonetheless, there are certain treats I’ll never sacrifice, and I always seek native alternatives to the foreign ingredients in modern recipes. Wild edible grains and beans, alternatives to tomatoes and peppers, substitutes for cocoa and vanilla, a way to make wild cheese without a goat…

My life will be complete when I can make Ozark spaghetti and Shawnee burritos.

#3

That’s awesome to hear your take on everything! Shawnee burritos sounds so good! I heard the native Americans would eat the fermented stomach contents of deer and it was an extremely prized delicacy. Even European accounts of it said it tasted amazing kind of like cheese. One great food I made once is wild rice, kelp and tuna sushi. That blew normal sushi out of the water. And wild rice ramp morel mushroom dumplings. The list goes on forever. So many mind blowing combos and exotic spices and flavorings like flowers and herbs.

I’ve been slowly easing into eating all wild for years now and did it without anything planted by man for over a year straight which gave me the insight on its power. In that streak I remember craving cheese pretty bad at one point also dates were a big temptation. But most of the time I was beyond satisfied. Now Im just getting back into it years later, after eating 100% organic, (with all clay cookware) vegan farmed food. Was a good experience but now I’m done with all that food. I don’t crave any taste or normal food anymore. Trying to do the hard task of setting myself up for a lifetime of all wild eating.

I think people really overeat. Japan has the highest life expectancy in the world and when the experts tried to figure out why the only thing they could definitively say is that they ate much less food than Americans. Something like a quarter as much food as a typical American. Our ancestors used to fast in the wild when food was scarce. Now pretty much no one fasts. And intermittent fasting is one of the most powerful, healthiest things you can do. It’s even been shown to heal brain damage. Here’s a good video on it.

I used to buy black walnuts and hickories from the Ozarks with persimmon leaf tea. That was an amazing intro into how superior the wild food energy is. I’m getting really into tons of wild tea because it’s so medicinal and powerful and almost feels like a meal. So I treat it kinda like how the diehard vegans treat green juice, like a food. I’m starting to treat the plants and mushrooms that are considered medicinal like food too. When Im in nature I eat little bites out of tons of different plants and some mushrooms I know are safe, particularly polypores like artist conk. It’s definitely an aquired taste. Today I chewed on an artist conk mushroom until it turned to gel in my mouth and it was powerful energy. I also was very blessed to bump into Reishi and chaga when least expecting it which will be great tea.

I buy wild pecans from Texas online which are so amazing! The wild food is really diverse some pecans tasted identical to sweet cocoa others were more woody or maple sample syrup tasting. The farmed pecans just don’t have the wildness anymore and are inbred, even hybridized with hickories. They all taste the same. I don’t mean to disrespect any diet, but there is nothing better than the wild food. Such a beautiful thing. Thank God

Good luck hitting the blackberry season it’s about to boom here in upstate New York too!

#4

Well I can’t afford to be fasting, way too underweight. The human brain uses up a lot of our calories and I think too much. I think I’m gonna go out foraging again this weekend, get some walnuts and fruit, make me some roast wild carrots with wild plum, garlic, and persimmon sauce and crumble the walnuts on top. Might be getting some venison from an uncle soon too.

#5

Yeah man I feel your struggles. It’s really hard to do what we do with foraging enough food these days to chubby up and get the nourishment to fast functionally. If i just meditated all day like Buddha i definitely could slow down the metabolism enough to require less food for long periods. My water fasting record is only 3 days. It gets very hard after that. When fasting the energy of the universe can be felt more easily and it’s a very profound experience. Once I chubby and strengthen up I’ll explore fasting more.