It’s a little disingenuous to walk as I do over to the kitchen 9 steps away, open up a cupboard, and magically pull two little brown bags of food to snack on back at my desk.
This just happened. As I walk to the cupboard, it occurs to met that these dates and almonds came from far, far away. I didn’t harvest them with my own two hands. I just walked to a cupboard and they appeared. What kind of worldview can we possibly have when we see food as a minor inconvenience we stand up and shuffle to the fridge for?
Picture this: It’s late. Your children have been put to bed. Your hands smart. Your feet ache. That crick in your back isn’t getting better. The sharp pains just get harder to ignore. You’re exhausted from cooking, cleaning, outdoor homestead projects, and answering a barrage of questions and complaints from your children.
You sit down for a little “Me Time” and realize that you’d rather not try to relax just yet. This moment would be so much better with a snack. You walk to the pantry and browse the shelves. You see canned tomatoes and peaches you and your wife harvested and canned last season. You see beef jerky hanging from a string.
You see onions and potatoes and garlic. There’s corn you could pop, if you had oil to pop it in. Problem is, coconut trees don’t grow so well in your area. In fact, they don’t grow at all. So coconut oil is a non-option. There’s plenty of lard and tallow around, but not oil. And why aren’t there any pre-made snacks in here? Oh. Right. Because for there to be a snack you’ll have to MAKE these ingredients into a snack. Because EVERYTHING you see came from your land and your two dirty hands.
Exotic fruits and nuts? Forget about it. Even if they sold such things at your local store, you couldn’t possibly justify the cost. Meanwhile, that jerky is starting to look good.
There’s fresh raw milk and cheese, though, and you could fry up some potatoes in lard and melt cheese on top. That’s not so bad. Except you’ll have to stand for another 15 minutes before you get the snack you wanted. Maybe you’re not that hungry after all. Maybe if you just lie down and close your eyes…
Your head slumps forward, jogging you awake. you were asleep. You were dreaming at your desk with little crumbs from coconut flakes and dates, South American almonds, and the aftertaste of store bought kombucha.
Whew! It was just a dream. You don’t have to slave over the stove just to have a midnight snack. Just pick a bag or box of something premade from the cupboard. Maybe go watch a movie streaming across the country on little tiny wires under the ground.
No biggie. Do whatever thrills ya.