Every time I teach a class, I am reminded of how hard-wired we all are to have an opinion, judgment or a definition about who we are with respect to eating. As I start a class, I typically have people introduce themselves; inevitably, rather than just a name, I hear things like, “I am a raw foodist,” or “I am a vegan,” or “I am a meat-eater and proud of it.” At that point, I usually like to announce that I’d like for everyone to leave their boxes, categorizations, definitions, labels, and righteous opinions about eating at the door, because in this setting, we come together as a unified whole. We come together not as an amalgam of how one needs to eat, but of a collective of sharing the unifying bond with each other that we are all humans that rely on the eating experience for daily living. The practice of eating is a powerful one, but we may diminish it by calculating our approach to it using the intellect. How can one truly put a label on their eating when our energy is changing moment to moment? We are never the same one day to the next, and yet we find comfort in sinking ourselves into a way of eating, which may take us out of the intuition of eating. Maybe one moment we need vegetables, maybe the next we need the strength and generosity of an animal to support us… 
Well, I have been guilty of labels all the same. I am no different. I have been a vegetarian, vegan, raw foodist, meat eater, pescatarian, lacto-ovovegetarian, fruitarian, breatharian, as much as anyone else. And now, I simply eat. What I have noticed is that assigning myself to these labels comes along with a certain philosophy and even doctrine that may or may not always fit my personal truth. We attach ourselves to the energetic lineage of a label when we take it on, so we better know what we are in for.
In my opinion, one way of eating is not any better than another. What is most detrimental to feed ourselves is the division we create amongst our fellow human beings.
What I find to work for me is to eat intuitively and instinctually. Sometimes I find myself reverting to old patterns – like saying, “OK, from here on out, it’s only raw for me.” And then I get a cold, and instinctively, I turn to warm foods. However, by clinging to a “label”, I’m simply creating the same energy that a “diet” holds – that of something confining when our energy is truly so big and expansive. The greatness of ourselves could never hold to just any solitary eating path. Even Buddha, who we might consider enlightened, was said to wear from his diet of root vegetables. 
Through food, we unify our bodies and souls, as well as connecting everyone on the planet. Eating is primal, instinctual – how did it come to be so calculating, intellectual, and paralyzing? How do we create unity rather than division through eating? By being in the present moment, we will always know what we need. So rather than eat our judgments, we may want to seek the nourishment of connection, compassion, and creativity.
Food for thought!
