Happy July, friends! Can you believe that 2020 is already halfway over? What a weird year so far. I hope you’re staying safe and are staying positive for what the rest of the year has to bring!
Have you heard that the very first Joyful Balance ebook is here? And it’s FREE! Joyful Creations: Your Plant Based Guide To a Better Buddha Bowl is all about creating YOUR favorite plant-based bowl. These bowls are packed with veggies, whole foods, and lots of flavor – and I can’t wait for you to get inspired and make the bowl of your dreams! If you’re already a subscriber, you should have already gotten your free download of the book in your inbox. If you’re new, all you have to do to get your free download is subscribe to Joyful Balance emails – where you’ll get new videos, posts, recipes, and occasional special offers delivered RIGHT to your inbox! You can subscribe using the above link or the form in the sidebar – your perfect Buddha Bowl is only a few clicks away!
Speaking of Buddha Bowls… in the process of making this ebook, I became more curious about how Buddha Bowls came to be. This is a relatively common term nowadays, but why? How did they start, and when? And why are they called Buddha Bowls? Well, I did some research to answer some of these questions, and here’s what I found!
What is a Buddha Bowl?
Let’s start with the basics by talking about what a Buddha Bowl IS. This term may mean slightly different things to different people, but the basic idea is always the same – a bowl filled with small portions of several different nutritious foods. Simple as that!
These bowls aren’t ALWAYS vegan or even vegetarian, but it’s definitely easy to make them plant based if you choose! And here at Joyful Balance, that’s a common theme. Even the bowls out there that aren’t vegetarian or vegan usually have a pretty big emphasis on vegetables, so they still encourage the consumption of plants!
You may see other similar terms floating around, such as “power bowls”, “macro bowls”, “grain bowls”, “happy bowls”, “hippie bowls”, and many others. While these may not all be the exact same, the general concept is usually pretty similar – a bunch of food thrown into a bowl, usually with a focus on healthier options.
Another commonality between most Buddha Bowls is that they are often arranged to look beautiful. No surprise, since they usually end up on instagram (otherwise, did they even really exist?). They are usually colorful, fun, neatly organized, GIANT, and intended to make you crave some yummy veg (which I’m always on board for).
The Joyful Creations ebook lays out a formula for how to create your own bowl, so be sure to get your free download if you want to learn more about Buddha Bowls the Joyful Balance way!
When did “Buddha Bowls” start?
It’s nearly impossible now to scroll through social media without seeing lots of colorful, yummy looking bowls by this name – especially if you follow food bloggers (guilty). I’m sure bowls filled with grains and vegetables existed before the #buddhabowl trend came to be, but when did the concept really blow up in our instagram-loving society?
It seems that one of the earliest print references to Buddha Bowls is in Martha Stewart’s book, Meatless. This book was published in 2013 – and while the concept probably wasn’t brand new, she seems to be one of the first to coin the official term.
Buddha Bowls seemed to really blow up on social media around 2017 – and this is also when most articles and recipes seemed to start popping up all over the internet as well.
So, short answer: sometime in the 20-teens.
Why is it called a Buddha Bowl?
Although the term “Buddha Bowl” may sound like it comes from Buddhist beliefs, this may not be as true as you’d think!
Like I mentioned before, Martha Stewart seems to be the one to have coined this term (as far as I can find) – but no one can seem to agree on why she picked the name. Through my research I found three common theories behind the name, but I’ll let you pick which one you think Martha had in mind.
- Buddha Belly – One theory says that the Buddha Bowl was given it’s name for it’s big, round, “buddha belly” shape! This theory seems to be most popular on Urban Dictionary, so I’m not necessarily claiming tons of hard facts on this one – but it does make sense to me. Buddha Bowls are often packed full of ingredients, making them look overstuffed and very much like what we think of as a “Buddha belly”. It should be noted here that Buddha likely didn’t actually have the large belly that we all think of – but, many of us do tend to imagine a big “Buddha belly” when we think of him, so the imagery makes sense.
- Buddhist Beliefs/Diet – Some say that these bowls were given their name because they seem to represent some version of a Buddhist diet – particularly for the reason that they are generally vegetarian. Now, I did not personally grow up as a Buddhist so I did some research to see how much of a role vegetarianism actually plays in Buddhism – and it seems to vary! My takeaway was that vegetarianism represents many beliefs that line up with Buddhism, so many Buddhists do tend to choose some form of a vegetarian diet. BUT there is no hard and fast rule that you must be vegetarian to be Buddhist. Nevertheless, many of us associate vegetarianism with Buddhism, so this theory does make some sense. Plus, the bowls tend to be nourishing and balanced – which both seem like concepts that would be supported by Buddha! Though he probably wouldn’t have cared about making his bowl “pretty” the way that we do.
- Buddha’s Bowl – Some other sources say that although our beloved “Buddha Bowls” are definitely a westernized concept, that their inspiration may truly come from Buddhist traditions. This Epicurious article included an interview with Zigmond, an author of Buddha’s Diet, in which he says that “Buddha woke up before dawn every morning and carried his bowl through the roads or paths wherever he was staying. Local people would place food in the bowl as a donation, and at the end he would eat whatever he had been given”. So, this was basically the original Buddha Bowl! Since our westernized, instagram-worthy, version of a Buddha Bowl has small portions of many different foods, this definitely matches up.
I won’t claim to know which one of these is the true reason behind the name, but they’re all interesting theories either way! Martha, if you’re reading this, please comment and let us know which of the above theories matches your reasoning behind the Buddha Bowl name. Enquiring minds want to know.
The Bottom Line
It was fun for me to do this research and learn more about one of my favorite plant-based meals. Although some of the answers I found may be a bit blurry, I’m okay with that. No matter where it came from or who coined it, any trend that encourages people to eat healthy, nourishing food in a delicious and fun way is something that I support. And, even if every “Buddha Bowl” out there may not be strictly vegan, they almost all still include lots of great plant foods – and that’s a good step in the right direction!
Have you hopped onto the Buddha Bowl train yet? Don’t forget to download Joyful Creations: Your Plant Based Guide To a Better Buddha Bowl to get started today!
Talk to you next week, lovelies!
