If you want to improve your relationship with food, get closer to it. . At 20 years old, weighing more than 280lbs (130kg) I knew no other food source than the supermarket. I used to go to my local one, buy kilogram bars of chocolate and eat them, in one go, in my bedroom. . Many years on, my chocolate has a different story. I source the raw beans myself, roast them on the stove, take the shells off my hand, grind them in my kitchen, mix into a paste and wait for the deliciousness to set before eating. . Many of the foods I eat have this kind of work behind them – the bread, the lard, the beer. And my relationship with my food and my body has completely changed. There is just no way I’d eat more than a serving of this chocolate at one time; I am satisfied with so much less. Partially it’s the quality, partially it’s the work that’s gone into it, and partially it’s the changes that tipping my life upside down this way has wrought. . This transformation didn’t happen overnight – it’s been over 25 years since my supermarket chocolate binging sessions – but bit by bit, the deeper I have dived into my food, the closer I have gotten to its source and its processing, the more grounded, satisfied and fulfilled I have felt. . Besides all of what I’ve written above, the joy it’s brought me is amazing. Playing with your food – in every sense – is such a soul and sense sustaining thing to do. . These beans brought me a lot of joy in my kitchen this morning. I’d love to know what’s cooking/fermenting.making has brought a smile to your face the last few days :-)