What to eat? A question I, and I would assume most people, ask themselves every day. It is also a title of one of my favourite books (What to Eat by Marion Nestle). I admit that this is a question I ponder almost obsessively at times and has lead to my addiction of books about food. What to eat has become a two and a half year long journey for me. An ever evolving thought process to try and create the perfect diet. To say that it has proven challenging would be an understatement. Two and a half year ago I embarked upon a diet transformation know as Clean Eating. The premise of which is eating foods in their most natural state. Now this is just good common sense, but no small feat in a world of limited time and convenience foods on every corner.
The last two and a half years have taken me on a discovery of raw food, veganism, living foods and trying to balance my nutritional needs with foods I love and bodily aesthetics. I’ve eaten Clean and counted calories. I’ve eaten a higher protein low grain diet and then avoided all animal proteins. I cut out all meat, dairy, fruit, most nuts, and soy for months on end. I am constantly striving to find the best possible balance for myself, though admittedly I still haven’t found it. I can however say that I eat almost exclusively whole foods, I eat at least 2 times over daily recommendations for vegetables, and I feel absolutely fantastic most of the time, so I must be doing something right. However, in this journey I have come to only one conclusion - there is no perfect diet. Nonethless, I will never give up the quest and continue to find joy in the entire process of eating from the planning to the shopping, to the cooking, and then of course the tasting.
Lately, as I’ve settled into my current eating regime of a grain restricting, small amount of fruit incorporating, dairy free non calorie counting pescetarian; I find myself becoming less concerned about which foods to chose, and more concerned about where my food is coming from.
After travelling for 6 weeks this summer in Myanmar , Thailand , Laos , and Cambodia Vancouver
But try I do and this year I have made great efforts to buy locally from my farmers market and take advantage of my suburban home and turn most of my yard into garden (yes that’s my house with brussel sprouts and garlic growing in the front garden where everyone else has flowers) In fact this year we grew over 20 different foods, and enjoyed them all. But still the majority of foods I’m eating in a year come from far, far away. While I recognize that some foods just can’t be local, I also find myself feeling guilty of buying out of season produce instead of fresh and local bounty, and trying to save money by buying imported produce at the supermarket instead of the higher quality more expensive fare from local farmers.
As part of the class I am currently taking entitled “The Social Determinants of Health” I am becoming much more cognisant of barriers to healthy living that I and others around me are facing. And while this idea of eating locally has so many benefits (fresher more nutritious food, smaller environmental footprint, supporting local economy to name a few) the more I think about it, the more I realize how unattainable it is for most people. If I, someone who devotes this much time to food research, planning and preparation. Who has easy access to land for growing and sufficient enough income for food, struggles to eat locally - is this even an attainable goal for our society?
But it is important to me, and I know from many conversations I’ve had about eating locally that it is important to others and therefore it continues to weigh heavily on my mind. So I decided to do a little research and see what, if anything is being done to make local eating accessible to the public. I was very excited to find out that my local farmers market, The Royal City Farmers Market, offers a program for young mothers which includes access to free food stuffs from the market and educational initiatives. I’m also very pleased that the inner city school I teach at is participating in the government run BC School Fruit and Vegetable Program which brings local foods to school twice a month to encourage students to try new and nutritious foods. With these great initiatives in my own backyard it is clear to see I’m not the only one interested in the accessibility of local foods. While my term research proposal is still in its infancy, the momentum I’m picking up in my search for local and accessible foods will be a key focus.
But before I finish this thought, and this post, I have been inspired by the work being done in my community, and by one of my favorites local books “The 100 Mile Diet: A year of Local Eating”. I have decided to pick up the torch and challenge myself. While it’s no where near the grandeur of attempting to eat locally for a year, its still a quantifiable attempt at local eating. Each year we prepare Thanksgiving chez nous for family and friends. For the last few years we have had between 15-19 guests and serve over 12 dishes. This year my challenge will be to create a family friendly Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings from food within a 100 mile radius of home. If this seems easy to you, check where your food is coming from next time you’re at the grocery store, most of our food travels hundreds if not thousands of miles away, often even despite the fact that they are available locally. But this is my challenge, and I’m ready to tackle the task of more local eating day to day, and a 100 mile feast to impress this Thanksgiving day.
http://www.aitc.ca/bc/ BC School Fruit and Veggie Program
http://rcfm.ca/ Royal City Farmers Market
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