Having grown up very urban, I was like many of our country’s population who did not know where or how food grew. I was food addicted and grew up eating enormous amounts of sugar and junk food. Finding my way through all of this, has been a journey that brought me to a few simple concepts which greatly enhance my connection to nature and create abundant health and well-being.
When connecting to what is natural for us around food, I follow a few principles:
Does this grow naturally on the earth in this form? (and is it edible?) This question alone helps my children determine for themselves what is healthy and what is not everywhere we go.
Is it altered in any way? (packaged, processed in a factory, genetically modified, hybrid, etc.)
Would my ancestors have eaten this?
Is this local? Would I naturally eat this living where I do? (Though fascinating, the variety of food that we have available to us is overwhelming and the second largest reason for oil consumption.)
These questions keep me on a whole, mostly raw foods path…and generally out of the “grocery store” where there is shockingly little food that meets this criteria. We get our produce out of our garden, or directly from farmers through Community Supported Agriculture (CSA, www.localharvest.org) or Farmer’s markets.
We do shop at local health food markets for other essentials like grains, nuts and beans. And although I keep it mostly local, I do buy some nonlocal food like bananas, coconuts and mango as healthy treats because it compensates for everything else we do not eat that they see others eat.
We get our grass fed beef directly from our rancher friend (www.5barbeef.com), raw almonds from a California ranch (www.organicpastures.com) and our raw goats milk directly from a local family farm (www.heavenlyacre.com). And our chicken and duck eggs are from our own backyard!
I’m including links in here for you because it took a while for me to come back home to what feels natural and connecting around food. I’m hoping to save you some time, offer you another vision of food, and also encourage you to be patient with yourself as you find exactly what is right and works for you*. Some of the links are only relevant if you are local, but if you check with your local farmers you are sure to find similar resources wherever you are.
We do not need to be eating substandard food that comes in crinkly packages, organic or not. We can nourish ourselves and our families simply, naturally, and support our community and the earth at the same time!
*As in all of my writing, I am not seeking to communicate that there is “one right way.” There is no dogma here. Only ideas and reminders of what we already inherently know; that there is an interconnectedness of all life and working within it brings peace. I share paths that reconnect us to nature and our Divine design, to encourage you to find your own ways into greater connection with yourself, and God/Love in all of its breathtaking manifestation. Always, always following the Light and Truth in you, above all else.