Metaphysically speaking, do you feel The Force in your food?



When you eat a carrot — do the miticlorians give you a connection to the universe — offer up spiritual communication — empower you?



Many people, in both the East and West, believe food, be it animal, plant or mineral features an energy — a power known by many different names — Mother Earth, the Universe, Chi, and yes, even possibly Luke Skywalker’s all encompassing Force. When that life terminates, this energy goes somewhere — hopefully, if grown and prepared correctly — it enters you.

Question is: Do you eat like Yoda or Darth Vader?

Revenge of the Scythe

The minute you finish this paragraph, many of you will flip the page to Bobble Tiki, tired of hearing one more time that the food you eat is often more from the Dark Side than anywhere else. Our mainstream food sources, experts say, contribute heavily to the overall ill health in our nation. Commercially grown food on large corporate farms contains petroleum, steroids, pesticides, and enough s***, literally, to choke a Wookie.



Still here?



We’re literally what we eat — a point that proponents of locally sustained food production hope you understand. They met April 17 at King’s Books to further their ambitions.



Those who lecture about the metaphysics of food promote eating locally grown, organic products above anything else. The closer to the ground you eat, the better it supports your spiritual core.



Rob McNair-Huff knows about that. He attended the “Growing Conversation III: Why Eat Local?” meeting at King’s Books. McNair-Huff, a spokesman for the City of Tacoma, and his wife, borrowing on recent books such as the 100-Mile Diet and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, chose recently to eat only products grown, raised or produced in Washington state for a solid year. He sees a spiritual side to the process.



“I grew up on a farm,” McNair-Huff says. “There is certainly a connection to the earth when you step out your back door and pick lettuce for the salad that you are going to eat right away.”



McNair-Huff discovered shopping at local farms for his produce comes close to his childhood experiences.

Jedi Chef

Behind the kitchen doors at Primo Grill on Sixth Avenue in Tacoma, Chef Charlie McManus understands the life force of food. He works diligently to transform his food stocks to 100 percent locally produced products.



“There’s a huge difference in the flavor and feeling,” McManus says of food grown organically and locally.



Getting to know a pig helped McManus and his staff better understand this circle of life. Last year, he purchased a whole pig from a local farmer and brought the dead beast, intact, into his Sixth Avenue kitchen for preparation.



“It was almost warm,” McManus explains. “For all of us there that day, it gave us a sense of what we really are eating.”



Finding this local connection, where the food about to be prepared breathed the day before, felt metaphysically profound.



“My staff saw what it was all about,” McManus says. “That the life this animal gave was for our sustenance — it was dynamic.”



As families moved off their farms in droves following World War II, McManus says we lost that spiritual connection with the earth and what we put into our bodies.



“We have no conception anymore of the seasons of food, or the life of the animals we eat.”

A New Hope

In a tiny office above the Mile Post Credit Union at 36th and Pacific Avenue — the crossroads between the Lincoln District and downtown Tacoma, Robert Neumann, a hypnotherapist, herbalist, counselor and Feng Shui master makes a living centering people. Metaphysically speaking, Neumann sees a strong connection between life force and food.



“When you fly into Paris — from very far up — you see all of these farms encircling the entire city,” Nuemann explains. “In the morning, these farmers bring their produce to the city where people buy these things, take them home and prepare a two- to three-hour lunch.”



That process connects the people spiritually, Neumann says. The produce arrives freshly picked, which nourishes Parisians with a vigorous vitality.



“It is a very strong connection to the earth,” Nuemann says. “It interconnects all organisms.”

Neumann sees hope here in the South Sound. He believes we continue to evolve — through our farmers markets in Tacoma, Olympia, Proctor and starting in July, Sixth Avenue. He says we better understand the importance of locally produced organic foods. As we support local farmers, the quality of our food strengthens our immune systems thus giving us more capacity to connect with our spiritual core.



“People are more balanced when they eat this way,” he adds. “I think more and more people understand that.”

What’s next?

Starting a vegetable garden in your backyard without pesticides may be a worthwhile step to enhance your spiritual being. Or, click on www. tacomagardens.com and get involved in supporting locally produced foods.



And may the Force be with you.