We live in strange times. Food is no longer something we work for. It is something that waits for us. Shelves full. Fridges cold. Delivery in minutes. A king’s feast at the press of a button. Yet never have so many felt so weak in their own bodies.
Not long ago, eating was the prize for effort. If you wanted meat, you spent the day chasing it. Hunters walked miles, tracked silently for hours, and seized the moment when it came. Farmers worked through the seasons, tending soil, feeding animals, and protecting the harvest until it was ready. Fishermen rose in the dark and cast out into uncertain waters, their hands cut and calloused from rope and net. Trappers checked their lines in the biting cold, walking miles over frozen ground for whatever the land was willing to give.
Every trade called for movement. The body was used before the stomach was filled. Because of this, people were strong. They could enjoy a feast when it came and endure the days when it did not. They ate with gratitude because the food was not guaranteed.
Today the rhythm has been broken. We no longer earn our meals. We eat when the clock tells us to, when boredom strikes, or when the smallest hunger appears. Our bodies never go without long enough to know the value of a meal.
This is not to say you must starve yourself. There is wisdom in fasting, for the body repairs and cleans itself best when it is not busy digesting. Yet even without strict fasting, there is strength in waiting. Let hunger grow before you answer it. Use those hours to work, to create, to move your body. Split wood. Walk far. Carry something heavy. When the time comes to eat, the food will taste different.
The first pang of hunger is not a problem to be solved. It is a sign that you are alive and capable. It sharpens the mind and readies the body. When you have earned your meal through work and patience, you do not eat mindlessly. You eat with presence, and the meal restores you in a way convenience never will.
To eat without effort is to take food for granted. To eat with earned hunger is to know its worth.
