Broken Relationship?
It's time to make amends with food.
Dear Dad,
What’s your relationship like with food?
As this week marks the official start to Fall, I am thankful for such a fantastic summer. Over the summer I felt fortunate to spend time around my young nieces and nephew and I observed something peculiar. A lot of a child’s day is centered on food. What to eat, when to eat, where to eat, and how much to eat. Not only is the day centered on food, but many times the child’s well-being is directly correlated. If so-and-so is being picky and not eating it’s fair to expect a degree of crankiness to follow; but after a fulfilling meal that child’s possibilities are endless!
There was a time that food empowered adults in the same way, but over time the relationship changed.
For a majority of human history the single most important goal of each day, or every couple days since that was the reality, was what food to eat. Food was life and having enough to meet your bodies’ needs was the only thing that mattered. For a long time food was hunted and gathered. Then crops were cultivated, grown, and traded locally as civilizations developed around small and mid-sized agricultural communities. The nutrient rich food that filled our plates was cherished as the product of hard labor, intimate caring, and proud harvesting.
It was only recently…relatively, when John Deere perfected the steel plow in 1837, which ignited an agricultural revolution that, combined with the budding industrial revolution, changed the whole western world. Food production and other commodities were scaled from geographically regional, to national; to the global food system that we have today. A lot of that change was a very good thing, but far too often only those benefits are considered while the detriments are ignored.
In the year 1850, about 64% of the American work force were farmers versus the year 2021, where that number was 1.3%. With less human capital dedicated to farming there is more to apply to other industries. Science, medicine, entertainment have all changed quite a bit since the year 1850! With less time spent across the population laboring in the fields, more time can be spent exploring space and discovering new technologies.
Not so fast…
While all true and worthy of celebration, take a moment to consider the costs of creating an industrial food system. Start by asking yourself the following question. Would you rather the food that you eat be provided by a farmer or a corporation?
Today most of the things that we eat comes from large corporate entities shipping products all over the world and raking in billions of dollars. A convenience to us for sure—swing by the supermarket to get whatever you want no matter the time of year—but a clear setback to the populations’ health. It’s undeniable that our health problems have tracked the development of the industrial food system. We are fatter, sicker, and less nourished because we eat more things, with less nutrients, and no longer have the satisfaction of cultivating the meal.
Distracted by the convenience of supermarket food, we are complicit in a food system that is rigged against us. Corporate lobbies ensure that government subsidies (tax payer dollars) are directed toward only a few main crops: corn, wheat, rice, soybeans, and feed grains—all of which are highly processed to emphasize calories over nutrients. Farmers still labor and provide the inputs but the food-like-substance that makes it to our tables is many times unrecognizable from the crop it once was. Food is no longer appreciated as a proud endeavor to nourish and sustain life; but rather, food is now just “calories” that get chomped down without much thought.
This week I’m laying down a challenge: Eat as many meals as possible that make you feel proud.
It’s up to you to determine what that looks like. To me, it’s a colorful meal, built around produce bought that day at a local farm stand--chatting casually with the farmer responsible and combing through the assortment of unique vegetables—to make up something tasty. It’s eating dinner at a table while it’s still light out with a walk through the neighborhood afterwards with Jenna & Truman.
To you it could look different. Maybe a nostalgic meal from your childhood; maybe a meal that you specially make; or eaten at a place that you adore. If you want, imitate my example above. Don’t worry too much about the perceived “healthiness” of your plate, we’ll delve much deeper into that later, just make your food an experience rather than a convenience.
A simple standard will determine whether you met the challenge demonstrated by one of your favorite human indicators. Rather than chomping bites mindlessly. You won’t be able to help but smile. And please share with me your version of a proud meal!
All relationships take work and its due time to re-establish your relationship with food.
With Love,
JSR
