Feed Our Soul

Last night, I caught an episode of Bill Maher.  One of his guests was Alice Waters, who is famous for creating the edible schoolyard, wherein children grow, eat, and learn about vegetables they grow on the school yard.  In fact, I had helped my daughter, Chloe, plant one at her school last year....not realizing who had influenced this back-to-nature goodness we were participating in.

Alice is also owner of a very well respected restaurant, called Chez Panisse, in California.  Her restaurant's website tells her story, books reservations, and sells her many cookbooks.  www.chezpanisse.com   Although all this seems a few years new to me and others who are now seeing a flurry of books on the subject of REAL Food, Alice had her epiphany about food on a trip to France in the summer of 1964!  A pioneer to the movement, I would say.

She is a very relaxed soft spoken person, and in this age of sound bites spit at infomercial speed, Bill Maher seemed a bit perplexed waiting for her thoughts to brim to the surface.  Oddly enough, even with the limited outflow from Alice, she made a point that was the most poignant one I've heard.  We need to bring the soul back into our food.

There is a reason we join together for meals:  Our food feeds us on many levels.  It is a social gathering; when else do we have time to smile, listen, and laugh with our families?  Our food feeds our bodies for growth, sustenance, and healing.  However, there is another level not discussed often:  Our spiritual connection to our food and each other.

My husband comes from a big Iitalian family.  I always admired how the family came alive around the food in his home.  It was more than just something to consume....it was a party...always.  The food had been cooked mostly from scratch and all Italian.  Lots of meats and fish and cheese.  I'll skim over the fact that there was white pasta served, because that was the way and did not detract from this soul filled food.

My own family was partly German.  We had a Pot Roast that cooked all day to tenderize the meat and add incredible flavor.  That was my families "party" food.  It always felt special to me and I understood what this food felt like when it entered my stomach.  There was a sense of fulfillment that went with the connection we all had with each other and our food.

This is what Alice Waters was referring to:  A need to return to a time when food was our connection to who we are.  This only comes from food that is first filled with this kind of spirit to start with.  REAL Food is food that we have knowledge of where it came from, that is clean and fresh, and this is put together by someone with love.  Yes, love adds to the food....more than we can even comprehend.

I doubt a "Happy Meal" could ever bring that true emotion out of anyone, but that is what the corporation is hoping to remind us of.  A feeling of being truly happy from our deep connection to our food.  It is what has been missing from our homes, our restaurants, and our souls for too long.  It is what we truly yearn for when we stare blankly into the open refridgerator, or the menu at a fancy restaurant, or reach out for a healthy cookbook to help us feed ourselves and our families.

A small simple statement with enough impact to open hearts and minds.  Yes, feed our body, all the healthy REAL Food we can get our hands on, but once again...Feed Our Soul;  this is what our senses are really asking for.

REAL Food by Dr. Sue

I found a new website, through www.hartkeisonline.com, and thought I'd share one of their statements about the difference between today's food and our great-grandmother's era.  Today, we need to say our great-grandmother, as opposed to grandmother, because all the dubious ingredients and odd happenings to food started creeping in even by the post-war era of the late 40's.  Seems pre-war is better in buildings...and food!

My desire to feed my family REAL food is so strong, that sometimes I avoid hanging out with other families for dinner because of it.  Sad to say that so many folks are still not aware of the garbage that is passed off as real food.  Even worse is the fact that most parents are packing this stuff for kid' lunches, having it for dinner, and serving it to guests.

It is an effort to find, cook, and make sure you eat REAL food; I feel it is an effort worth making.  Almost everything that today plagues our health can be traced back to this fake food most are ingesting every day, every day, every--DAY!  I hope you'll read that statement again...it's a big one.  You can deny it, ignore it, and reply with a "Happy Meal", but now it's in your head.  Glad I could put it there.

Here's the writings from Dr. Sue from her website www.nourishmd.com  Hope you'll flip through her other stuff....lots to learn.

Dr. Sue writes:  Your great-grandmother didn't have high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated oils or enriched flour in her kitchen.  Nor did she have artificial colors, sweeteners or flavors.  Her family didn't eat food from animals that never saw the light of day, were overcrowded and caked in their own manure.  These animals didn't eat soy and corn, nor were  they medicated with steroids and antibiotics.  Your great-grandmother didn't prepare foods covered in pesticides or even worse,  foods filled with genetically-modified ingredients.  It wasn't available.  All of this fake food is relatively new, created in a lab by food companies who want foods that trick our taste buds, stay on shelves longer and cost them less.

You see, organic is a marketing term.  The reality is your great-grandmother fed her family organic foods and lots of local foods.  She didn't have to worry about navigating through all of the marketing lies, food labels, or grocery store aisles.  Food was REAL, unadulterated and nutrient dense.  She probably grew some of her own food and canned it for the winter months...imagine!

When we talk about REAL food, we're talking about the food our bodies were meant to eat and enjoy every day.  The food our bodies need to thrive at the cellular level.  The food our children deserve.  The food that will keep us and the planet healthy.

Remember, you vote with every bite!  What are you voting for?  Organic?  Local?  For a healthy family or planet?  You can change the world with every bite.  Choose REAL food!