When I was a kid, my grandmother had a bowl of fake, rubbery bunches of grapes, along with their plastic vines and leaves, as a decoration on her coffee table. My sister and I liked to give them a little squeeze when she wasn’t looking. If you would have asked me what’s the difference between real and not real food, I would have pointed you to those plastic fruits.
Most of us understand the importance of eating nourishing food. But what exactly constitutes nourishing? We’re bombarded with food ads on TV and the Internet. There are entire television channels devoted to food, cooking and eating. There’s something aimed at everyone – no matter what kind of diet or eating lifestyle you follow.
A quick glance at the current program schedules for Food Network and Cooking Channel lists dozens of shows focused on food. Most of them are themed around foods we crave, or want to treat ourselves to, or indulge in. There are a shocking number of shows about baking, decorating, and eating sweets. Very few of the programs highlight fresh, clean meals.
Our grocery stores are loaded with aisle after aisle of processed foods. Highly processed foods. Even Whole Foods Market. (Note: organic is great, but organic boxed mac ‘n cheese is still boxed mac ‘n cheese.)
It’s easy for us to assume that a chef hosting her own TV show or a cook publishing a professional looking website with a large following has insider information that we might also want to follow. And advice from the medical and nutrition community often conflicts. So I’ve decided to educate myself by looking a little deeper into food and nutrition issues.
If we can eat it, it’s food, right? I think that’s not so right. If we agree with the Oxford Dictionary that food is “any nutritious substance that people eat or drink in order to maintain life and growth” then we can agree that edible doesn’t always equal food. Just because something is edible, doesn’t mean it’s food. And the “real” in front of “food” that we are seeing more and more is a great reminder to keep the true definition of food foremost in our minds when grocery shopping, cooking, and eating.
How do we start to unravel the mystery of what’s best to eat to keep our bodies and minds healthy and strong?
I love this quote from Michael Pollan from his best selling book In Defense of Food : …what other animal needs professional help in deciding what it should eat? It’s hard to believe we have instincts that we can trust when so many other people, including celebrity doctors and food manufacturers, are telling us how to manage what we eat.
For the past several years I’ve been learning about real food. Discovering what makes my body feel better and my mind seem clearer. And what doesn’t. I’ve come to know that reducing highly processed foods is well, a process! I’ve also found the process is easier when I connect with others striving for the same goals and inspiration as I am. I still have a ways to go to be fully living a real Real Food lifestyle. As I keep learning, experimenting and growing, I hope I can inspire my family, friends and readers to become real food eaters as well.
I’m looking forward to sharing my findings, experiences and insights with you.
