"If you knew what I know about the power of giving, you would not let a single meal pass without sharing it in some way." -Buddha

“If beings knew as I know the results of sharing gifts, they would not enjoy their use without sharing them with others, nor would the taint of stinginess obsess the heart and stay there. Even if it were their last and final bit of food, they would not enjoy its use without sharing it, if there were anyone to receive it. ~ Itivuttaka 18″

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“What vegetable would he like?” The mere question is linked to improved compassion and increased brain wave activity in key brain centers activated by positive thoughts of others. The brain can’t maintain two thoughts at a single time. So a mind preoccupied with thoughts of compassion and vegetables, can’t simultaneously hold negative thoughts. Perhaps this is why cooking is considered such a positive vocation according to Buddhist texts. But it goes deeper than that.

"Even if it were their last and final bit of food, they would not enjoy its use without sharing it, if there were anyone to receive it." -Buddha

According to nutritionist and food historian Sally Fallon Morell, M.A., ”Food preparation is actually a sacred activity: According to esoteric lore, “If a woman could see the sparks of light going forth from her fingertips when she is cooking, and the energy that goes into the food she handles, she would realize how much of herself she imbues into the meals that she prepares for her family and friends.

It is one of the most important and least understood activities of life that the feelings that go into the preparation of food affect everyone who partakes of it. This activity should be unhurried, peaceful and happy because the energy that flows into that food impacts the energy of the receiver. “That is why the advanced spiritual teachers of the East never eat food prepared by anyone other than their own chelas (disciples).

The person preparing the food may be the only one in the household who is spiritually advanced. An active charge of happiness, purity and peace will pour forth into the food from him, and this pours forth into the other members of the family and blesses them.”18 To be healthy, we need to prepare our own food, for ourselves and our families. This doesn’t mean you have to spend hours in the kitchen, but you do need to spend some time there, preparing food with wisdom and love.

If no one in the family has time to prepare food, you need to sit down and rethink how you are spending your time, because this is the only way to get nourishing foods into your children. We can return to good eating practices one mouth at a time, one meal at a time, by preparing our own food and preparing it properly.”