Food for thought and the ripple effect.
Do you ever think about what is behind the scenes with the food that you eat, or the things you get to experience? I mean, to the subatomic particle type level of how it got to be in front of you at that moment?
Take a simple apple for example. If there was an apple sitting on the table in front of you, how much do you take for granted that you just get to simply eat that apple? Aside from all the aspects of being able to afford that apple, and the simplicity of there being an apple at your disposal to just go and buy. What, or more specifically who, do you need to thank for getting that apple to your table? Let’s work it backwards.
Did you buy the apple, or did your spouse or parent? They, or you made the trip to the store, after working enough time at a job they may or may not have enjoyed doing, to earn the money to buy it. They/you got up some morning, when you may or may not have had enough sleep the night before to feel cheerful about getting up when you did. You waited the two weeks after the payroll person processed your pay stub to get the money and then went to the store.
If you drove to the store, you needed the gas in the vehicle to get you there, and the person to deliver the gas to the pump; And the refinery person to even prepare the fuel to be ready for the delivery guy; and the rigger to drill for the gas etc…
There was a company somewhere that produced the shopping carts and baskets used in the store that you used to put your groceries in to bring to the till, and all those associated positions with the manufacturing of these carts and baskets.
The cashier who sold you the apple had to deal with the politics of their job enough to want to show up at their checkout that day, and then process your transaction.
The clerk who stocks the produce section had to unload the truck filled with fruit and put it out on display. The truck that delivered the fruit to that store employed someone who drove the fruit from the warehouse or maybe even airport to that store. Maybe that delivery driver is freshly back from being off on disability with a broken ankle and on that particular morning was still a bit tender, but he came back to work early anyway. The thought of staying home with a boss who thought they were milking the injury to get out of work was something they were tired of having to deal with.
Don’t forget the delivery driver from the farm who brought the crates of apple boxes in to the distribution warehouse. The night before his son was up all night sick from his infected tonsils..again. 11th infection in 18 months and his wife was working night shift so it was up to him to administer the Tylenol and Auralgam drops. He was so tired driving this load to work he almost didn’t see the kid on the bicycle before it was too late. Thankfully though, he did.
We then make our way down this chain to the farmer who grew the apples. His dad before him had the orchard, like his grandpa did before him. The expectation of carrying on the family business landed on his shoulders after his older brother was killed by a drunk driver 9 years ago. He didn’t have the heart to tell his dad he wanted to be a writer and live in New York wearing tweed coats with leather elbow patches in a loft in Soho. The closet thing he came to doing that was making up stories for his girls that he jotted down on napkins from the diner gas station in Violet Grove, where he stopped to pick up milk on his way home and had the occasional slice of pie.
This proverbial apple sitting in front of you now was even influenced by the farm maintenance man who noticed the back row of trees weren’t as big as the others. Once he fixed the tap and the water was flowing where it should, the apple trees caught up with the others nicely and thus this apple was created.
ALL of these people, and likely many that haven’t been listed here, helped shape the fact you have an apple in front of you to eat. This is only a small example of all the food you eat in only one given day. A food with only one ingredient in it. One with no manufacturing involved, or baking, or labelling or coming from another country to add to the growing list of people who contributed.
Just imagine for a moment all the things you eat in a day, and then a week and then a month and then a year. Kind of gives you some appreciation for all the people who contribute to what goes in your body each time you eat.
Keep it in mind as you chew and maybe have a moment of gratitude if you would, from time to time. Those good thoughts might one day add up to a shift in the world’s energy and help make the world a better place.
Now, go enjoy an apple!