Aside from a potentially longer life, more energy to accomplish our goals, and the absence of disease, good nutrition has many other benefits:

• Nutritional benefit of preparing your own meals

We’ve touched a little bit on this earlier. Preparing your meals allows you to control exactly what goes into your body. Let’s take a simple meal of chicken, rice, and vegetables. You can choose organic chicken breast, wild rice, and steamed broccoli. Or you can choose a frozen chicken patty, uncle ben’s rice, and a can of corn. The nutritional difference between these two meals is astounding. In the first case, you control sodium levels and GMOs and get many more vitamins and minerals.

• Meditative benefits of mindful cooking and eating

Spending time cooking at home can be a wonderful experience. Cutting ingredients, stirring them in the pot, and tasting them is rewarding. Your creativity is awakened. Your brain is engaged.

• Physical benefit of preparing one’s own meals

Those who prepare their meals tend to eat fewer calories can control the allergens in their food and how food is handled. One-time cooking can also provide multiple meals, allowing you to take leftovers for lunch or freeze them for a future meal.

• Spiritual connection to cooking

Knowing where your food comes from is essential to good nutrition. You have a more advantageous connection to your food by going to a farmer’s market and building a relationship with the person who grows the plants or raises the animal. Let’s say you buy a can packaged in China; the relationship to that food connection is lost. You can also learn to experiment with different foods. It’s time to try kale or raspberries grown in the wild. Start a garden or visit a farm and pick vegetables or fruits. That meal will then mean more.

• Impact on mind, body, soul

There are many benefits of eating fresh, local food prepared at home. Should you have a family, get them involved in the process. Enjoy good food with great company. Your body will benefit, and your mind and soul will as well. Let’s also remember the impact on the planet through less waste, reducing carbon emissions, and fewer pollutants. Plus, you will feel more socially conscious supporting a local farmer than a big corporation.