Let’s Break It Down, Shall We?
Real Food
This is a blog about cooking with real food while reducing fake (processed, packaged) foods. My mission is to inspire you to learn more about where your food comes from and how to cook that food in your own kitchen. What is real food? Anything that is naturally and humanely raised, minimally processed, and from scratch, or pretty darn close to it.
…From Every Corner of the World
This is also a blog about the power of food culture and travel. The more you experience the foods of the world, the more you begin to value food sources, and believe in the investment it takes to make more of your own foods. At least that is what happened me.
Want the longer version? Read on.
My quest for reducing fake (processed, packaged) foods, and the start of this blog, were inspired by a little reading and a lot of travel. It all began when I read books such as The Fat Fallacy, and French Women Don’t Get Fat, and began experiencing other cultures through travel. I found myself feeling as though we were missing something in regards to what we ate and how and why we ate it.
With a background in nutritional and exercise sciences, I’ve always kept nutrition a priority, and at the same time I’ve always struggled to keep my weight at a healthy level. Things began to change for me as my journey continued and I discovered books such as Real Food: What to Eat and Why, and Food Politics. Although I dislike (and disagree with) some of the drama that surrounds the food topics that these books address, as a result of reading them I began to educate myself on our food system and eating in a way that feels right to me while keeping science, and local and global issues in mind. I was ecstatic to find that there are many others out there who feel the same as I do about real food, not to mention research that supports our actions.
I happen to find whole grains thrilling, natural fats satisfying, and minimally refined sugars complex and intriguing. I experiment with all of these foods. I eat meat and vegan foods, gluten and gluten-free, dairy and dairy-free and I do not buy all certified organic foods. I garden, support my local farmer’s market as well as international markets.
This blog reflects my belief that if you choose one thing to improve your health it should be cooking more of your own, real food.
Among the foods listed above you will also find traditional favorites. Food culture and history are interests of mine, and so is pulling out those recipes with white sugar and flour that my great grandmother once made. So if it’s cooking from scratch it flies around here.
I feel we all find our own path to health. What works for one person may not work for another. Personally, I am on a quest to reduce and eliminate fake food from my diet. By my definition, fake foods are those shelf stable items that list a myriad of chemical and preservative names in their ingredient list. They really aren’t food at all, just synthetic substances made to look and taste like food, or foods that have been so altered that they no longer resemble the original in taste and nutrition.
If real foods, food culture, travel, and cooking are your interests, too, I hope you will return and we can learn from each other.
