Giving thanks for Creation's bounty

So, my church friends know that remembering to say grace before meals is, ummm, not one of my strong points. To put it mildly. Everyone grows up doing some things and not doing others. This is not a practice that was a regular part of my family's life, and trying to introduce it later always felt forced and awkward.

I have also gotten more interested in food recently. I’ve paid some attention to ethical growing conditions, sustainability, etc. for several years now but over December I got stuck in an airport for most of the day and read through The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Now I got a lot more interested, specifically with regard to animal products. I haven’t gotten regular-old grocery store meats since.

This was happening at the same time as Project Leviticus but I tried to write it up a couple times and my posts ended up being “The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Abridged” with a shake of “Oh and there are a bunch of agricultural laws in Torah and I’m sure this is in the same spirit somehow.” Rigorous exegesis this is not. Although there ARE a bunch of agricultural laws in Torah, which I figure are fundamentally about respecting the Creator through respecting Creation, and I AM sure this is in the same spirit somehow.

I had been interested in getting a CSA share for a while now but it hasn’t really been feasible as a singleton. This year I have some friends who wanted to share it with me, so we signed up for a vegetable share and a meat share (different farms). The veggies have been coming for about six weeks and we recently got our first meat share.

Given the Massachusetts growing season, it wasn’t all that interesting at first. Lotsa lettuces. Some bok choi. Beets. But now in mid to late July things are getting a lot more fun, and it's become more possible to make meals out of my CSA bounty.

And recently I’ve prepared a few group meals, mostly (though not entirely) from CSA sources and shared with friends old and new and I tell you it has been delightful! Absolutely lovely. Now I always like cooking and sharing meals with friends, but the locally grown and responsibly produced element makes it even better. I feel so much more connected with the natural order of things, as if this is the way it is supposed to be.

And, especially interesting to me, beginning these meals with a prayer hasn't felt forced. It has felt quite natural.