EATING WELL

Typical of most people who move to a tropical country, we enjoy eating much more fruit in Vietnam than we did in Canada. Right now in our kitchen we have bananas, pineapple, mango, apples, oranges, chum chum (there is another name for this little hairy fruit but I forget it) and an unnamed fruit given by our dinner guests last night. With one or two exceptions these are all grown in Vietnam.
You can buy fruit on almost any street in the city. The fruit appears on carts, or in baskets carried by vendors at the end of long poles; it appears at tiny portable sidewalk kiosks, at small store front shops, and at markets, both outdoor and indoor. The single vendor on the street may only sell bananas, or only papaya. The larger kiosks and store front shops sell a large variety of fruit. We never have to look far to find fruit for sale.
Of course in Vietnam as in Canada and other countries, food safety concerns are regularly expressed about fruit, vegetables, fish and meat. One can never be sure what has been used in sprays or fertilizers; or what hormones or antibiotics have been used with fish or animals. Vietnam continues to improve their health standards and consumer protection laws. However the great challenge is to enforce these regulations in a large developing country where food is marketed in so many ways.
It is possible to order vegetables from an organic farm/company that provides home delivery for Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. From them we get wholesome, safe lettuce, cucumbers, beans, tomatoes, etc. delivered right to our door. You are what you eat, right?
Thinking of health and hygiene, in Jesus era there was no concern about food additives nor germs. Jewish people washed, not for the purpose of hygiene but rather as a religious ritual symbol; ridding themselves of spiritual impurity. Jesus warned his listeners not to worry about the ritual outward cleansing but to take care regarding inner spiritual purity. Matthew 15:16 - 20
We need to guard our minds from the input of spiritual pollution. We especially need to guard against the impurity of our hearts. Inner impurity causes us to say and do what is sinful and spiritually unhealthy.
So here is to health - physical and spiritual!