What Are You Hungry For? Body, Mind, and Soul

By Francois Comunetti

This book explains how we can overcome today's challenges and confusion about our real needs for body, mind, and soul.
How we determine the proper and satiating source of food to nourish our whole being, individually and collectively, is much simpler than we think but difficult to achieve.

"What Are You Hungry For" describes that our body will naturally tell us what we really need if our food source is wholesome and natural. We have to stop over-thinking and just follow a few very simple rules.
This book helps us to understand that there is no contradiction between science and spirituality.

To improve and expand our lives, and all forms of life, we need to change the ways we feed our whole being. Change is the only constant, change is movement, and movement is life. The only handle we have a grip on is ourselves.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: May 13, 2024
• ISBN: 9798350948769

Francois Comunetti

Francois Comunetti was born and raised in Switzerland, where he had an education in general agriculture and regenerative-organic farming and taught martial arts. With his curiosity, interest, and extensive travel, he encountered mysterious experiences and insights he wants to share. As a broker in finances and operating a farm, he proudly received his American citizenship in 2006. He currently lives with his family in Northwest, Montana.

Book preview

A white cover with black text Description automatically generated

Cover Illustration

Painting - Diaphanie - by Swiss artist Antoine Oser: Representing Body, Mind and Soul in a universe of dualities.

The word Diaphanie originates from the Greek. In German it means, among other things, translucency or transparency.

Colors and size have been modified with the permission of the artist.

Dedication

To the friends of Philostro

© Copyright 2022

All rights reserved - first edition

Edited and printed by Bookbaby.com

eBook ISBN: 979-8-35-094876-9

Email:  [e-mail]

Thank you to all who have helped me write this book.

To Fred Provenza who inspired me to finally write my book and who pulled the trigger; to my wife Kate who spent many hours correcting and editing; to Gene Gable, who helped on so many levels to put the book together: his professionalism, knowledge, and positive attitude were and are invaluable; to Lupo Perseverando for spiritual guidance; to John Freeman who challenged many of my thoughts; to my brother Philippe for his input and who has an inherent trait for social ethics; to Antoine Oser, who permitted me to use his art work and allowed me to modify it; and finally to Bookbaby.com, a great tool for editing and self-publishing.

Table of Contents

Food for the Body

Today’s Confusion about Food

Unlimited Offerings and Variety

Consequences of Industrial Food

Poorly Fed Soil Equals Poorly Fed Humans

Food Versus Nourishment

Variety and Concentration of Nutrients

Powerful Tools for Change

Producing Responsibly

The Food and Health Industry

Who Has the Say?

Restriction for Freedom

Education

The Limitation of Growth

Diets

Milk

Besides Nutrients

An Aspect of Food Choices

Diet and Activity

Simply Water

Eating Meat or Not?

Meat and Physical Performance

An Ethical Approach to Meat Consumption

Manufacturing Diseases with Animal Factories

Plant-based and Synthetic Meat Alternatives

Making a Change

Air: the Most Eminent Need for Life

Water: the Second Most Important Element for Living

Soil and Food

Necessary Modifications and Improvement of Our Industrial Agriculture

Don’t Be a Fanatic!

Feel Your Nutritional Need

Be Aware of Your Food Sources

Respecting the Gift of Our Body

Food for the Mind

Curiosity, Interest, and Challenge

The Work on Oneself

Start Small!

Relationships and Sexuality

The Benefit of Talking and Undertaking Less

Quality Versus Quantity of Communication

Art

Mind-altering Substances

Where Is the Limit?

Tradition

American Puritanism

Recreational Drugs

How Can We Help?

Food for The Soul

What Is the Soul?

The Choices of the Soul

Choices and Their Consequences

Consciousness of Our Actions

Fear Trumps Rationality

We Are What We Eat

The Spirit of Our Food and Health Industry

Different Souls, Different Personalities

Taming Our Minds and Pushing Our Bodies

Connecting with the Spiritual Realm

Corona Virus: A Challenge!

Beliefs and Opinions

The Power of the Institutional Churches

Personal Interpretation of Scriptures

Reincarnation

To Live in the Present Moment

Paradox

Suffering

Geographical Values

Forgiveness

Duality

Missing: The Most Important Ingredient in our Food Chain

Politics

Climate Change

An Evolved Form of Energy

Education

Creation versus Evolution

The Limitation of Science

The Evolution and Transformation of Words

The Evolution of Matter

Our Daily Bread

Disparities in Behavior

Mentors, Leaders, and Teachers

Religion

Prayer and Meditation

The Fear of Hardship

Fun

Happiness

Joy

The Responsibility of Pursuing Happiness

Spiritual Quest

Final Words

Preface

This book is based on personal life experiences, encounters, and observations associated with statements, teachings, and missions from inspiring people. It is also inspired by a lifetime of watching and observing nature, which is the most basic teacher in this world. People who teach us the most and best on the long run are the closest to us—spouse and children, parents—but very often also common unknown people working behind the scenes who have proven through their actions to serve what is Good, Beautiful, and Just for all. 

Personally, I was also inspired by professional masters in farming, finances, martial arts, and music. My life crossed paths with mentors like Mrs. Liberman, a martial arts shaman who lived in Paris; with Dan Millman the Peaceful Warrior, but most of all, and still very much to this day, the impact of the most exceptional person, someone I would call the mentor of all mentors and who I never met. 

This book is directed mostly to young American adults but will hopefully also help anyone else who is searching for more awareness of their real need for nourishment of their whole being. 

I consciously wrote this book in simple words not only to attempt to pass on the message as well as possible but also because of my limitation in the art of writing. 

The book is not a source of new knowledge, or a new mission of any kind. The ingredients have been around forever but have been put together in a way to make it palatable, pleasant, and nutritious for people hungry for this kind of food in our present time. We all have different needs.

Consider this book as a kind of tour guide. Finding truth, honest information, and indications suiting our needs become more and more of a dilemma, especially in our times, where we can find a vast range of answers to all our questions online. The more information we can access, the more confusing it gets for some. The more we experience, the more we learn and realize how little we are and how little we know. The more we grow, the less we have an opinion about worldly matters. 

As visitors to this planet, we really do not consciously know where we come from and where we are going. The memory and vision of that have been taken from us for the time being here. We can accept explanations provided by science, mythologies or by bright and illuminated or divine people, or just walk by during our distractions and willfully ignore them. 

Historically, different cultures transmit wisdom, knowledge, and traditions by word of mouth only and over generations and centuries, such as Native Americans. Some go through scriptures, such as Christians or Muslims. Science proves, evaluates, and duplicates material processes but always ignores the reason. Science knows how but does not know why. This book tries to show that there is no contradiction between science and mythology and that the wall and division between the two is created by us. How can our small and very shortlived brains grasp much, if anything, in limitless space and time?

Let’s be humble and admit that we do not really know much, if anything, and therefore, we should be as open-minded as possible to everything presented to us.

Prologue and Life Lessons

What pushed me to write this book?

It was a natural and strong desire to share and pass on what I have learned. Close friends repeatedly asked me to do so. Having lived pretty much isolated in Montana for several years now, the time seemed right as I became hungrier to share this with you. My backpack was becoming heavier; it made no sense to keep carrying experiences around just for myself.

Unfortunately, it is my nature sometimes to be too careful. I take my time to act and even react. If this is the picnic you were looking for on your journey, I am sorry for the delay. I hope it is not too late. Many of us have the impression that we, Homo sapiens, are running out of time. This book starts with my life story and some personal life lessons that I want to share. I am not interested in talking about myself. Still, I want to illustrate with my own experiences that our journeys are not a coincidence. Everything happens for a good reason. Our lives are orchestrated by something much more significant before and beyond us in time and space.

I have been extremely blessed throughout my life, and I am probably the most content presently.

I was born in Switzerland in 1958, in a peaceful and very civilized country. I grew up during a period where life seemed good for just about everyone. There were many doors open for driven people of all occupations and social ranks. Goodwill was, and is, important.

Since early childhood, nature was a compelling attraction for me. Nature without human intervention has always been and still is my principal teacher. As a young child in elementary school, I often woke up early in the morning before class and went running in the woods and through the fields to watch the sunrise.

My father was a nuclear physicist who became a naturalist in his later years. My mother was a well-educated, cultivated, refined French lady attracted by history, culture, fine arts, and high society. She instinctively knew how to raise a family with a lot of wisdom. I was seven years old when my parents got me a violin, hoping that I might make a career out of it. I had an ear for music and was considered gifted. Instead, as a young teenager, I was attracted to martial arts and farming. During my childhood, our family spent every summer vacation in France at my grandparents. They had an oversized lot with a very wellkept vegetable garden. Much of what we ate during the summer came from that garden. I learned a lot from my French grandfather, and I realize how much I learned unconsciously by watching him working in the garden. Meat and fish were from the farmer’s market, and a local dairy farmer delivered dairy products. There was no supermarket. Life was simple and good.

Always fascinated by farm life, I sometimes worked during my high school vacations on farms for just room and board and a little pocket money. I always liked to be active in sports. For a while, I fantasized about becoming a professional boxer. However, I never told my parents. I realized the cultural disconnect with my family. I quickly gave up on that idea because I also knew it was a very violent sport, and that I had no right to destroy the gift of a good and healthy body. Instead, I picked up Judo, which I knew was acceptable to my parents. I never quit Judo, and to this very day, I am still on the mat twice a week assisting teenage boys with life lessons learned within this martial art. I was fourteen years old when I put on a Judo Gi for the first time. As I walked into the dojo, I knew this activity would be a long journey and an essential part of my life. 

For a long time, I looked up to my Sensei as to a god. He was a tall, athletic, and intelligent man with charisma. He won the Swiss National Title in the heavyweight category seven times. He also ranked on the international level. Is it a coincidence that the day I felt like writing about him was the day he passed, as I found out later from his wife? Thank you, Leo! It is also no coincidence that I had the urge to visit with him during my last trip to Switzerland, as I had not seen Sensei Leo for twenty years.

As a child, I never really knew why I went to school, but I enjoyed it most of the time. The last couple of years of high school did not go very well, so I advanced my mandatory military service and served as a cyclist/bazooka shooter.

My father, an open-minded person who could think outside the box, took my counselor’s advice at that time. He found a farm on the Lake of Geneva where I could begin an apprenticeship in organic farming. Pierre, the owner and a master farmer, was a pioneer in organic agriculture in Switzerland. He had farmed organically since the sixties. I was delighted. Not to mention that one of the best Judo schools in Switzerland was in bicycle range, as I had neither car nor license at that time. It was perfection, and I had everything I needed for a while.

I worked twelve hours/day on the farm, and before dinner, I jumped on my military bicycle to go to Judo. The Judo classes were high performance, and I achieved the National Level as a junior. Between hard farm labor and Judo, it is unbelievable what I asked my body to do at this period in my life. Looking back, I would not do it again. I would offer my body more rest. No wonder a few years later, my body did resign for a while due to exhaustion.

Before finishing my two years of farmer apprenticeship, I decided to go to Canada to work in the logging business. I fantasized about being lost in the middle of Canada, far away from any civilization, logging hard and experiencing a natural, intense, and physical life out in the wilderness. Of course, it turned out differently, but better. Instead, I stayed with Vincent, an ex-military buddy from Switzerland in Toronto, for one month. It was a sabbatical for me, enjoying plenty of free time, something lacking or nonexistent on the farm. I continued to work out twice a day, did my morning runs, and in the evening, Judo practice at the best school in Toronto. There I had a humbling lesson. Although I was quite strong in mat work in Switzerland, I got whipped by a world-class fighter. His name was Vargas, and though he was a weight category above me, it was an important lesson and experience at the right time.

One month later, Vincent decided to move to San Diego, California, with his old Buick Skylark. I thought it would be fun and exciting to join him. What an adventure it was for me coming from little Switzerland! It was like turning livestock loose on the pasture in Spring after spending the winter cooped up inside.

After visiting San Diego, I returned to Nebraska, where I had met a gorgeous local girl on my way to the West Coast. Of course, I loved San Diego’s beaches, but I was more attracted by the Midwest’s vast farming area and knew that was more where I belonged. Looking back, it was no coincidence; this beautiful young lady lured me back to Nebraska for a reason and dumped me soon after I arrived. Within a couple of days, I found a perfect farm growing hundreds of acres of grain. So, I spent the summer working on this grain farm. When entering Nebraska, the State sign says Nebraska – The Good Life, which I experienced. I was blessed to stay with the wonderful owners of the farm, Ray, and Rita.

By Fall, I went back to Switzerland to attend an agricultural school. This school, the Farmer-WinterSchool, is designed for future farm-owners or managers. This was the best school I ever attended or could even imagine. There were approximately 150 young farmers all driven with an entrepreneurial spirit, most of them living on campus. The subjects taught at this farmer school were very practically oriented and useful. The principal, Mr. Bachman, was an outstanding person with an incredible memory. On the first day of school, he called to me across the hall by my name. I had never seen or talked to him before that! No one ever failed his class in bookkeeping and farm economy.

Anyone who did not pass a test had the opportunity to do the same test again the next day during dinner time but with a maximum possible 80 percent score. How ingenious! Three life lessons in one, in a very human way! 

In spring, when school ended for the year, I just had to go back to America, but now, I wanted to work on a dairy farm. A school buddy had the same plan, so off we went. We both ended up in Wisconsin on different dairy operations, both working for expatriated Swiss families. We were so hungry for discovery in the profession and new dimensions that we worked twelve hours a day just for room and board and a little pocket money. Joe Lauper, the owner of a good-sized dairy operation at the time, taught me how to work efficiently, with minimum investment, and how to stay out of debt. Needless to say, he survived every farm economy crisis.

You must understand that many Swiss people have a strong urge to travel and explore. Switzerland is a tiny and densely populated country with very high cultural requirements. The society does not leave much room for error. The expectations are high. Therefore, young people, especially young men, are fascinated by big countries with lots of physical and cultural space and tolerance. America and Canada were perfect for that and quite popular travel destinations in the eighties and nineties. They were still lands of endless opportunities.

Quite a few Swiss farmers even sold their properties in Switzerland during that time. They immigrated to Canada, the United States, and Australia to acquire much bigger places with the sale of their small and highpriced farms in Switzerland.

I was a farmer without land. After my dairy experience and more traveling across the United States with my friend John in his junker Ford Matador, I went back to Switzerland to finish the farmer school. After that, I took a job working in the vineyards for a major winery on Lake Geneva.

After harvest in the fall, I decided to get more fully into Judo. I hoped to rise to an international level. I could not afford Japan, so I went to what was comparable in excellence: The INSEP in Paris. A friend of my parents offered me a room at the Place de Clichy in downtown Paris. My roommate was