All is one: an introduction to my food blog

I am about to elaborate some ideas I have regarding food, science, spirituality, art and who knows what else. I just thought it worthwhile to put up a disclaimer that I am not a philosophy major, nor even an English major, so please forgive any misuse of terms. For example I’m not even sure I know what “spirituality” means, but I have a sense for it, as I’m sure you do too. Anyways perhaps all this is to say that this is not a term paper, it’s a blog. So…

Some might maintain that there exists a barrier between science and religion. These two may well be at odds depending on the case, however science and “spirituality” can certainly go hand in hand- perhaps this is why so many of our generation call themselves spiritual, but non-religious.

One idea that a “spiritual” person may subscribe to is that “All is one.” It’s the kind of thing you see on bumper stickers at the whole foods store, right? I’m not really sure what it means to them, but here is where I have come with the idea and why I say science and spirituality are an easy couple. Think about what science tells us about the nature of matter- it’s all atoms, we are essentially the same as everything else of a physical nature.

Ok, so maybe this isn’t the best way to show that science is also saying “all is one,” and really it’s not so much there that I think it lies, and perhaps the most interesting thing for me is the dynamic nature of our bodies. In breathing we are in a constant exchange with the world, and on a microscopic level, our membranes and organelles are constantly moving, shifting, exchanging and renewing in response to what they meet.

And what do they meet? The stuff of “outside” world that we take into our bodies. Think about eating an apple. We take a product of the natural world, the fruit of plant, we break up its matter with our teeth, degrade it further with our enzymes, and take from it things we need for life and that make up our bodies through biochemical pathways - we are, in a sense, becoming one with the apple.

I don’t know if I have successfully articulated what is so easy for me to see: there is an interconnectedness of all things and that physically, all things are one. However, science and spirituality come to be at odds when we enter the realm of consciousness and the ego. It is a difficult and materialistic view to look at consciousness as nothing more than a product of evolution and a mechanism for the survival and propagation of a species. I don’t know where it comes from, but I have some fundamental belief in the dignity of man.

And here is where food comes into play again, this time with another big idea: art. It has been an interesting experience this past year studying science at McGill, after a high school education very much balanced with the arts and humanities. Perhaps it was through that education that a came to see man a noble species and capable of fine things. With this the arts become the highest manifestation of human beings’ potential.

Sure we need food to survive, but it is clear in my mind the cooking is an art. It is an art that I get excited about, that I enjoy in more ways than one and that I want to celebrate through this blog. I decided if I started something like this, I would push my self to explore the culinary arts further, tasting new things, eating different places and trying new things in my own kitchen. I’m not a food snob, although who knows, I may just become one- I hope not. So hopefully this is a success and you enjoy what I post!