THOUGHTS: Food

Everyone has thoughts about food - right? "What's for dinner", "what's left in the fridge that needs using up before it goes 'off'"... "Oh my, that looks delicious" and "who ate all the chocolate?". But, what if... what if food was a constant thought? A constant worry. Is that normal, obsessive or is it being a more conscious person? Because holy smokes, I think I might be on the side of obsessive just ever so slightly...

When S was at the weaning stage, I decided that I didn't want her to be the picky eater I'd been nor that her diet should be limited due to allergies like her Pa. So we started ordering a veg and fruit box from a lovely, local organic farm. I very quickly realised that I couldn't identify half the vegetables we'd have delivered! Embarrassing, oh most definitely. It was about 18 months later that a close friend had an opportunity to take on an allotment, with me as her trusty (read: pushy) co-worker at her side. The first year was a very steep learning curve, but learning nonetheless. From these two inception points, I began to ponder about the quality of our food, the origin of our food and as to what is a balanced diet? What exactly does the human animal need to eat to become a strong and healthy individual? 

After reading some Michael Pollan, I concurred that this 'science' of nutrition was in fact a pseudo-science that has lead to the over scientification (not sure that's actually a word?) of eating. Plain and simple. I then read Tamar Adler's 'An everlasting meal', Barbra Kingsolver's 'Animal, vegetable, miracle', Shannon Hayes 'Radical Homemakers' and my head began to whirr. We've forgotten how to eat. As human beings, we don't know how to live seasonal and use what we have available. I sure didn't and wouldn't claim to know it all now, but I do believe that we as a family are definitely moving to a more sustainable, traditional eating habits. Over thousands of years our bodies adapted to a certain type of diet specific to our country of origin - for example, how are the French one of the 'healthiest' nations when their mainstay appears to be cheese, bread and wine? Nutritionists across the globe throw their hands up in terror and shudder at the saturated fats! Perhaps eating what we ate prior to fast food, ready meals and alike are exactly how we breed strong, healthy humans?

Cooking within the home has taken a back step, for most it's a chore or people don't have the time to cook due to work/social commitments. Make time. There's nothing quite as satisfying as sharing a table of good food with family and friends. Learn about food, I'm an advocate for food becoming a subject in schools. All aspects of real food, none of this 'food technology' malarkey. Food is facing a battle, we can continue to lose the culinary history we've had for thousands of years to global corporations or we can make a case for food. Cookery books are no longer about cooking, they're simply a list of ingredients and how one or two individuals believe they should be put together to produce a particular outcome. It's factory line cookery. A cookery book should be about cooking, rather than specific quantities perhaps being more ambiguous - a dash or a glass of wine to the sauce, you choose. It's your meal. Modern cookery is about having some celebrity chef create some kind of cult following for them to make their living from, fair play. But what about inspiring people, invoking passion and confidence for the ingredients around them. Using less of something simply because it's more expensive but it's such better quality. Less is more! Experiment. Gather friends and experiment on them, let them experiment on you. Don't be afraid to fail!. I've served numerous dishes that the family has refused to eat, but we've added cheese, salt to make it all the more edible. Food is a vehicle to express yourself, to allow people the opportunity to catch their breath, to share, to gather and nourish each other. And hopefully, just maybe, those friends will prevent you from becoming completely obsessed with food!