I’ve been recently thinking about how closely tied almost every culture is to both gratitude and peacefulness through food. This takes places through the practice of taking a pause before eating, whether to speak a grace or blessing aloud, or to quietly reflect and give thanks.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17471626
By Kate McGeown
BBC News, Manila
Can the food in these dishes make people feel happy?
Nestled at the back of a small courtyard in the north of Manila, there is a little restaurant with an unusual name and an even more unusual concept.
It is called Van Gogh is Bipolar, in homage to the Dutch painter who is believed to have had a life-long battle with mental illness, much like the restaurant’s owner, Jetro Rafael.
Mr Rafael believes that certain foods can make you happy, and everything on the menu has been created with this in mind.
I believe to love and be loved is our most fundamental need and our highest calling in life.
Sustained love requires commitment and devotion. Similar to the act of kneading dough, love takes effort. At times kneading (and needing) can be frustrating. Both dough and love can be gooey and messy. Anyone who has ever worked with dough knows it can stick all over your fingers and to the surface on which you work. Just as in kneading dough, love is not for the faint-hearted. Love tests our inner strength and our emotional endurance. Love asks for our unwavering commitment and devotion.
Recently, I discovered the joy of kneading 
I love to cook, but I’m not much of a baker. I don’t do a lot with dough or yeast – but lately I have been delving into making my own pizza crusts.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Agency offers some really interesting looking free courses on food security, including one new one on Climate Change:
Climate Change and Food Security – New E-learning Course from FAO
Guest Blog by Elizabeth Mac
Founder and Director
The Peace Meal Project, Boulder, CO
Hello Friends,
I am the Director of The Peace Meal Project in Boulder, Colorado. Through a series of serendipitous events, I had the great pleasure of connecting with Stephanie and Hannah of this PeaceMeal Project.
Two organizations. Different locations. Similar names. Similar missions.
And, now, partners in peace.
by Nancy Shute
We’ve known for a while that a food’s aroma has a big influence on our perception of how it tastes. Now it looks like smell also can affect how much we eat.
By Wayne Roberts
Food policy specialist Dr. Catherine Mah grew up in a food-centred household. Later, she would regularly invite people over for dinner to celebrate the social aspects of eating. Now Mah invites a wide range of experts, including people who work in mental health and addiction, around the same table to talk food, as head of the Food Policy Research Initiative at the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit (OTRU) at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. She is also an assistant professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. As a food system writer and public speaker, I was eager to sit down and share some food for thought with Mah.
Today’s post is a postcard kind of image, a little feast for the eyes as spring begins to blossom all around us in Southern Ontario. This salad is partially harvested and partially foraged (queen anne’s lace/wild carrot and purple clover, both salty from growing very near the Atlantic Ocean), and I hope will bring you a bit of light and happiness wherever you may be reading.
