My Food Philosophy

This is what I think about food, food choice, why it's important to talk about it and how it's affected how I eat.

It's a little raw and pretty casual but it just flowed out of me...so here it is.

I wish food was as easy as it could be. I wish we could all grow our own food, feed and treat animals well, harvest it all ourselves and appreciate it for what it is: beautiful nourishment provided by Mother Earth. Unfortunately, food is now a product. We the consumers of the food have been so far removed from growing and harvesting, we know nothing about it. Not only are we far removed from the interaction of growing and harvesting, food has changed. It’s shape, color, flavor, very essence of food has changed. Long ago, people used food to satisfy a primitive need. Now, food is sold for profit. Companies add unnatural flavors, colors and additives specifically engineered to be highly palatable and addictive so we come back and buy more. Advertisements intend suede us, tapping into our emotions and feelings. Media tells us what to eat and what not to eat to make us fit into these unrealistic ideals of what we are “supposed to” look like. Food is no longer just food. Food is money. Food is emotion. Food is meaning. Food is everything.

This is why we need to spread information about food and what it actually is. People have this misconception that they have this undeniable control over what they eat, how they eat and how they feel about food. When we are stressed out, exhausted, have not eaten all day, pass five advertisements on the way home from a long day at work about how fast a tasty meal can get into our hands, how the hell are we supposed to make a “healthy choice” rationally? The truth is, the decision is not under our full control and it never will be. Shedding light on all of these influences that make eating healthfully hard may release a little bit of stress from someone’s day.

Recently learning this information myself, my dietary system is not really a system anymore. I feel blessed to actually like fruits and vegetables and eat them every day in some capacity. I also need things like dark chocolate and peanut butter and eat those in some capacity every day. I used to not only restrict things I enjoyed greatly like the aforementioned, but I would speak so harshly to myself when doing so, which affected my self-esteem to my core. After the wonderful experience of a Food Relationship Coaching course, I decided to begin the journey of non-judgment. I realized all of that negativity was coming from me and if I could influence anything in life, it was how I talked to myself. Now, here I am with a little more joy around meal time. Am I perfectly happy and non-judgmental every day? No, I am not. But I am working on it and that is good enough.

This is why I want to help others uncover what food is to them. I would love to explore your food story with you. If this topic resonates with you, reach out and we can begin this journey of discovery together.

Thanks for reading.