Whole Food, Real Food

I grew up in Vancouver in the eighties.  While these days, Vancouver has a reputation for being one of the most health-conscious cities in the world--natural food stores abound, restaurants with menus based on local, organic and natural foods garner rave global reviews--twenty years ago, even by west coast hippie standards, my mum had high ideals when it came to her dedication to Real Food.  My younger brother and sister and I grew up on fresh fruit, fresh veggies, naturally raised meat, wild fish and some dairy.  We never ate refined sugar in any form--really!  Even juice and breakfast cereal were deemed too processed.  Candy and chocolate were simply not part of our everyday lives.  We ate whole grains a few times a week (brown rice, kasha), but even flour-based baking and breads were recognized as a 'once-in-a-while' food.  While occasionally I felt hard-done-by, (I never had exciting fluorescent candy in my lunchbox) or freakish (in those days, no one else composted, and my friends wondered why we 'saved' our apple cores), mum did a great job of 'normalizing' natural foods and healthy eating for our family, despite being immersed in a culture with competing values.  In fact, my mother was an inspired and inspiring cook.  She made things up as she went along, wasted nothing, and fearlessly cooked meals with an international sensibility.  Once at a gathering, someone made a remark indicating how impressed they were that so-and-so had actually prepared lunch successfully.  My mother gave them a withering look and said, famously, If you can read, you can cook.  Mum never had any patience for anyone who over-dramatized the difficulty of the everyday and necessary act of making food, although she always created an atmosphere of celebration at the table, and she made sure that we were raised with a deep understanding that real fod equals food that is ethically produced, close to its natural state, and made from scratch.  Although I went through a brief period of rebellion in my early teens (cnady), I cannot thank my mother enough for the strong foundation she provided for me and my siblings.  It turns out, of course, that my mother was ahead of her time.  The health benefits of eating well are now widely acknowledged, and diet is cited as one of the main contributing factors when it comes to almost all states of ill-health, including obesity, cancer, auto-immune diseases as well as the common cold and flu.  

When I moved from the west coast to the Maritimes only four years ago, I was surprised by the conflicts I observed in the culture of eating on the east coast.  On one hand, we on the east are absolutely blessed to live in such a beautiful and abundant patchwork of forest and farmland.  Carleton County nb, especially, is dotted with small family farms organically producing some of the highest quality whole foods available.  But I also see a large reliance among Maritimers on highly processed sugary snacks that, while are edible, cannot honestly be described as Real Food.  When fast food, junk food and coffee and donut drive-thru are so common as to be accepted as "normal", it is a sign that we are due for a revisitation of our standard.  Especially considering the "epidemic" of obesity particular to the Maritime provinces, even among children.  On the other hand, it seems that everyone everywhere--and here in New Brunswick too!--are tuning in on the importance that our entire food cycle has on our bodies, our minds, our children, our economy, our environment and our communities in general.  

There remains a lot of confusion however, over what it really means to eat a healthy diet.  After years of fads and corporate misinformation, such as the ridiculous low-fat craze, energy bars and drinks, and stores full of expensive unpronounceable supplements, it is no wonder people seem confused.  Common sense and a little research quickly reveal that whole foods mean just that.  The healthiest food is unadulterated, and processed as little or as naturally (traditionally) as possible.  Processing of course, refers to a broad spectrum of ways that food can be prepared for consumption or storage--modified or preserved.  Traditional forms of preservation, such as fermentation, can actually improve nutritional quality and dimension, as in the case of milk being made into yogurt.  Most packaged, prepared foods found on the local grocery store shelves however, are not worth buying.  Michael Pollan, the author of "In Defense of Food", gives some good guidelines for healthy eating.  These include focussing on foods our great grandparents would have eaten, and he points out that whether or not a food is packaged or makes health claims on the packaging, is actually a good way of determining that the items in question is NOT the best choice.  As a general rule, 'traditional' foods are the way to go.  But sometimes it seems that we have forgotten our Real Food traditions.  And it can seem daunting to attempt to adopt a diet of whole foods with children when we are surrounding by a conflicting culture.  The concept of balance and moderation are always measured in relation to societal norms.  

Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon is another great book to help you on your journey back to a whole food, real food nourishing tradition of your own.  

Have a beautiful day, 

Yolande