Evolving Relationship with Food

60: (March 2019)

Just like in all relationships, my relationship with food has evolved quite a bit over the years. Initially, food was something people served me (ah, youth!), then it became something I quickly put together because otherwise I’d feel hungry. I began to put love into food preparation as I learned how to feed my family, and now I am ever more aware of how my relationship with food affects my relationship to the environment.

The media has recently focused lots of attention on the wastefulness of single-use plastic containers, which has caused me to wince as I go down the shopping aisles in the food store. Suddenly those single-serve yogurt containers seemed too much of a selfish purchase. I have a yogurt maker at home that comes with glass bottles. I just need to prioritize – to take the time to actually make the yogurt (which tastes delicious to boot!).

Maybe this week I’ll tackle the problem of those ridiculous plastic boxes in which organic salad greens are packaged. Perhaps little by little I can wean myself off single-use plastic containers, one food at a time. Small steps, baby steps. Insignificant against the big picture of environmental abuse and challenges? Maybe, but those are steps I can take, so I will.

I’d hate to find out someday that all the small things an individual can do matter more than we might think. This short Yes! article discusses a variety of ways that small actions matter, not the least of which is that small actions can lead to creating a collective will, new norms, and goal attainment. Besides, there are always ripple effects to our life choices that we can’t imagine and may well be much more significant than we can presently comprehend.

Our food choices make a difference to the environment, not only in terms of packaging, but with what we choose to nourish our bodies. Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappe, published decades ago, addressed the environmental benefits of eating a vegetarian or vegan diet. When I read the book years ago, it was the first time I had learned about the connection between the number of beef cattle in the world and the health of the Amazon rainforest, and ultimately the health of our planet.

Beef consumption has significant ramifications to the environment: the more beef and dairy products we eat, the more grazing lands cattle need, which contributes to the depletion of rainforest acreage and farmable land. On top of that, cattle emit methane, a very harmful greenhouse gas. So eating less meat and dairy products is a climate action that is relatively easy to take and can make a difference. It is one of the action steps recommended by The United Nations’ ActNow Climate Campaign, along with such things as buying local produce and refilling and reusing bottles.

Although I stopped eating beef years ago, dairy products definitely crept back into my diet. Hmm. Another small step I can take. Simple steps, small steps, but steps in the right direction nevertheless. I’m not going to walk backward, I don’t want to idle in place, so the only real choice, as I see it, is to take one step forward at a time.

40: (March 1999)

I am Italian, on my mother’s side. I love food. The two are inseparable, aren’t they? Growing up, food was rich, full of emotion, and played a central role at almost every gathering. Rigatoni, sausages, meatballs, cream puffs. Food meant fixed traditions; food meant love.

My relationship with food changed unexpectedly when my husband and I learned that our older daughter had food sensitivities that were contributing to a severe asthma condition. A nutritionist prescribed a blood test that revealed sensitivities to wheat, eggs, dairy, garlic, beef, turkey, oats, rye, barley, shellfish, some nuts, and a few vegetables and fruits. This put a definite crimp in my Italian style of cooking. We decided to go cold turkey off the offending foods. Although this originally seemed completely daunting, utterly overwhelming, and almost impossible, it turned into an opportunity to look at food in a new light. I began to learn a lot about nutrition and alternative cooking styles, and despite some grunts and groans along the way, it has been an exciting and fascinating culinary adventure.

I now cook with foods that I never knew existed before. Quinoa, potato starch, tapioca flour, and guar gum have become staples in my kitchen. I have learned to appreciate the vast array of choices available to us, rather than feel limited by my formerly narrow scope of perceived options. I had not even begun to explore the possibilities before. Letting go of my fixed view of food has also meant attempting to let go of emotional ties to certain foods, or alternatively, to try to maintain beloved traditions using altered ingredients. But shaking up the status quo has enabled me to start some new traditions of my own that take into account the nutritional benefits or health risks incurred from the foods we eat.

The best part of our new relationship with food is that changing our diet played a pivotal role in what has been a radical improvement in my daughter’s asthmatic condition. I would not trade that for the world. But if you see me sneaking a canoli in the corner of a café, don’t be surprised. Once Italian, always Italian.

60-40:

Most of us love food. We gather together around food, comfort ourselves with it, and delight our senses with our food choices. Steadily mounting scientific evidence demonstrates that we can often heal ourselves with food, or ward off the onset of certain illnesses by our food choices. My daughter’s asthma was indeed healed by the dietary changes we made years ago.

Maybe we can help heal our planet as well with our food choices, one bite at a time. At least it wouldn’t hurt, and at this point, our earth – the mother of all – needs all the help she can get.