Vegetables give us an incredible ability to change our orientation. There are three main types of vegetables; root–growing downward like carrots, burdock, parsnips, etc.; round–growing around the surface of the earth and generally round: onions, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, squash, turnips; upward leafy–growing upward: collards, Chinese cabbage, scallions, leeks, etc.

If you want to become more stabilized or physically stronger, or more physically active, you concentrate on root vegetables. If you want to become more upwards, dispersed, open and stimulate yourself more mentally, you focus on leafy vegetables. If you eat only leafy vegetables, you get weak physically. If you eat only root vegetables, you get too heavy, too down.

To become balanced we use round vegetables. But round vegetables are interesting, because round, balanced, means there is no uniqueness. We have different sayings like “cabbage head,” and “pumpkin head.” By this we mean someone who doesn’t have much in their head. If we have plenty of round vegetables, we become very balanced but not very interesting. We lose our uniqueness.

Our uniqueness comes from how we create that balance, through our selection of interesting varieties of root and leafy vegetables together with round vegetables. We need balance, but then we go out from balance and create our own uniqueness. If our selection is very narrow, then that is how we become. If our selection is broader, we become broader.

In this way we can use food and energy to create our lives.