Falling in Love With Real Food
Working at the farmer’s market brings me so much joy. The community of people are the humblest and most hard-working people I know. The food is organic, raw, local, and better tasting than any produce/vegetables you can get at the grocery store. Working at the market is like going on a date when you’re married. Each week or “date” you fall deeper in love. I could literally spend hours of my life talking to Dan the apple guy about different breeds of apples. I could spend $20,000 every week on the newest in season produce/veggies. But most importantly I could get grab a rootbeer with each one of my down to earth, cool kid, coworkers, enjoying the sense of overwhelming community. Each week, the farm that I work for brings the newest in season produce/vegetables and each week people come to our booth for our quality products. The regular, weekly customers are in love with quality food.
Last week we brought up a freshly harvested case of Leek scapes up from the farm. A curious customer pointed to the sign and asked me “what is a leek scape"?” In anticipation of the many questions I would get asked, I was well equipped with hours of internet research and question asking with our farmer John. I was able to explain to the customer that leek scapes were a short season vegetable similar to asparagus with the mild taste of an onion. (What Are Scapes and How Do I Cook Them?, 2020). She replied, “Well cool. I’ve never heard of them before. But I love a challenge. Any vegetable you guys grow is amazing. ” I loved her reply and her attitude! (Leek scapes pictured below).
So how does this story and my experience working at the farmer’s market relate to the average joe? Maybe you live in the city with little access to fresh local products. You could have a busy work/life load and healthy eating seems like an unreachable objective. Financially, you could be concerned that clean eating means a huge investment that you are unable to make. There’s a possibility that you suffer from food allergies, sensitivities, or intolerances. Maybe you have a desire to eat clean, but you don’t know where to start. In todays society we are cultured to believe that eating clean means participating in crash dieting, feeling chronically and constantly hungry, spending a lot of money on whatever diet Oprah is promoting this month, and spending hours in the kitchen slaving away. BS ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I recently wrote a blog post on the power of Simplicity. Here is where that beautiful principle comes around full circle.
Anthony Bourdain said, “Good food is very often, even most often, simple food.” When people ask me how they can improve their diet and eat healthier, my first question to them is always: Do you ever cook food at home? Studies show that there is a direct correlation between regular home cooked meals and better health outcomes. (Reicks, Trofholz, Stang and Laska, 2020). Learning to prepare meals for yourself not only means eating meals that have more nutritional benefits but also have the potential to improve many other aspects of your overall health. Sadly, the art of cooking is fading away and being overwhelmed by the screaming voices of the major food corporations. (Pollan and Brick, 2008). State of Home Cooking Survey, found that only 27 percent of Americans actually get behind a stove to cook every day. Fifty-eight percent manage to do so only twice a week. (The Art of Cooking for Health: Culinary Medicine | American Society for Nutrition, 2020). Maybe, if more people knew the power of food as medicine they would be more willing to try cooking.
So…. What health benefits really accompany home cooked meals? Why does falling in love with real food matter? How can focusing on food simplicity drastically shift your overall health?
No unnecessary additives/ingredients. (There are no BS ingredients in your home cooked meals, unless you put them there. You can be completely aware of what goes into each bite). (Reicks, Trofholz, Stang and Laska, 2020).
You can control the quality of ingredients. (How can you truly be sure that your McDouble Dorrito Cheeseburger is comprised of local, organic food sources? Simple answer, you can’t. Home cooking allows you the opportunity to support local farmers and farmer’s markets.)
You learn more about food/nutrition. (When you cook at home, you are quite literally studying food up close and personal. Reading cookbooks, researching recipes, and getting hands on in the kitchen allows you to become more aquatinted with the nutrients you are eating). (The Art of Cooking for Health: Culinary Medicine | American Society for Nutrition, 2020).
Clean eating is addicting. (When you go to the farmer’s market, walk around with your family, and learn about different ingredients you get excited about clean eating. Learning about the broad spectrum of fresh vegetables and fruits, often make people more inclined to eat more fruits and vegetables).
Cooking=Community. (Food brings people together. Cooking goes far beyond just the food. It is cultural, religious, social, and more)! (Pollan and Brick, 2008).
Julia Child said, “You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces-just good food from fresh ingredients.” So, my challenge to you is simple, go on a first date with cooking. Legitimately give clean, simple eating a chance. Falling in love with REAL food takes time but doesn’t have to be complicated. Return to the humble beginnings of food. Before all of the added sugar, fat, and preservatives were considered ‘normal’ and acceptable practices. Stumble into a farmer’s market, pick up a bundle of leek scapes, allow yourself to wonder what it is, and hold space for the magnitude that, that simple ingredient has. Food is magnificent, unique, healing, life altering, community building, and truly is medicine.
References
Aetna. 2020. 4 Surprising Health Benefits Of Home Cooking. [online] Available at: <https://www.aetna.com/health-guide/health-benefits-of-home-cooking.html> [Accessed 21 June 2020].
American Society for Nutrition. 2020. The Art Of Cooking For Health: Culinary Medicine | American Society For Nutrition. [online] Available at: <https://nutrition.org/the-art-of-cooking-for-health-culinary-medicine/> [Accessed 21 June 2020].
Eating Richly. 2020. What Are Scapes And How Do I Cook Them?. [online] Available at: <https://eatingrichly.com/what-are-scapes-and-how-do-i-cook-them/> [Accessed 21 June 2020].
Pollan, M. and Brick, S., 2008. In Defense Of Food. New York: Penguin Audio.
Reicks, M., Trofholz, A., Stang, J. and Laska, M., 2020. Impact Of Cooking And Home Food Preparation Interventions Among Adults: Outcomes And Implications For Future Programs.