The hours
The days
The weeks
Go by
Month by month
Year by year
Things are getting
Louder
Faster
Brighter
Bigger
The cars
The houses
The things we need
Or think
Think we need
To make our loves
Bigger
Better
Fuller
And our plates
Our plates
Are getting more full
Not just with
The juggle
The balance of
Family
Work
Finance
But with food
The round plate
The square plate
The bowls
Are being
Piled
Heaped
With more and more food that is
Baked
Fried
Boiled
Steamed
Layer upon Layer
Slice upon slice
Ladle after ladle
Is being presented
Presented before us
In cafes
Restaurants
Take Aways
And at home
We pile
Plates
Bowls
Sandwiches with no space to breathe
We eat
We munch
We swallow
The food
The food
That is set before us
Mouthful after mouthful
Bite after bite
Soft food
Sometimes that we
We didn’t even have to chew
The fork
The spoon
Or the hand
Places
Pushes
Fills the mouth with items from
Boxes
Cartons
Packets
That might not
Might not actually be real food
And some
Some of this so called food
Has ingredients
Ingredients listed on the label
That don’t
Don’t even exist
In
Cupboards
Fridges
Freezers
Gums
Additives
Emulisfiers
Numbers
Words
Words that sound
Sound like elements
From the periodic table
Words that sound alien
That could
Could come from another planet
Mars?
Jupiter?
Venus?
But No
No they are words
Ingredients that are created here
Here on earth
By humans
In Factories
With Machines
Folding
Shaping
The products
That are
Driven
Flown
Shipped
Across our planet
To our shops
Cafes
Restaurants
That appear
Appear on our plates
The food
Or so called food
We want more and more of
With its
Soft texture
High salt
Sugar
Fat
That makes our taste buds tingle
Tingle with delight
And stops
Blocks the messages
The signals that tell our brain
Our stomach
That we are full
That our body has what it needs
But the fork
The spoon
The hand
Can shovel
More and more food
Into the mouth
Without
Without realising it
And without realising
That perhaps
Perhaps we are putting diesel into a petrol car
And our engine
Is being stalled
And not letting us drive
Dive at our natural speed
Food
Food is fuel
And yes
Of course
Our cafes
Restaurants
Shops
And homes are filled
Filled with food
Food that is
Grown on trees
In Soil
On bushes
That swims in the sea
That is reared on the land
That we chew and swallow
And is filled with
Vitamins
Mineral
Proteins
Sugars
Fats that fuel
Fuel and satisfy
And make us feel full
And this food
This food can be minimally
Minimally processed
With small
Small quantities of
Ingredients found
In our cupboards
To enhance flavour
Texture
Structure
Herbs
Spices
Vinegars
Even a pinch of salt
Sugar
Or a dash of oil
But when
When
We eat
The soft food
That hardly touches
Touches our tongue
What is it doing
Doing to our bodies
Our minds
Our brains?
What is it fuelling us with?
Do we actually know?
What we do know is that people want more and more
Of it on their plate
And the companies
The adverts are telling us this too
But if
If we flew to another planet
Mars
Jupiter
Venus
And this food
This food with its
Unrecognizable words
And coded numbers
Was presented
Presented to us
We would be cautious
Hesitant
Nervous about eating
Eating this alien food
So why
Why here
Here on planet earth can we not
Not get enough of it?