110 / The Life Changing Assignment that Immediately Changed My View of Food

[gentle music] It's crazy how good of a job the food industry has done at marketing their food products, effectively erasing our ancestral wisdom to simply eat real food.

We have lost touch with the most basic food, cooking, and body wisdom skills that we should as we grow up.

We should just have them as we grow up.

Processed foods with multiple plastic wraps, chemical additives, ingredients we can't pronounce, preservatives, flavorings, all of these are not real food, no matter what the label says.

And the more the label is trying to convince you that it's real food, the more skeptical you wanna be.

My very first assignment back in 2010 when I was studying to be a holistic nutritionist was to find three processed foods, any that I wanted, and research them to find out exactly the location where each of the ingredients in the food product came from.

It was the most eye-opening assignment, as I had to make emails, multiple phone calls, struggled for the companies to get back to me, and then when I finally got the lists, to be shocked at how many of the ingredients came from countries thousands of miles away from each other, conglomerated into one city, put together in a factory, and then potentially shipped and packaged in a different factory before being sent out to the world.

Completely wild.

Of course, all of this was new to me, as I had been eating packaged foods for years without any knowledge of this.

Before nutrition school, I was eating microwaved food.

It was so eye-opening that something can be so wild, offensive, and true at the same time.

I am constantly horrified and in deep gratitude when I go grocery shopping.

Now, this podcast is, of course, not shaming anyone for eating processed foods.

I never shame anyone in my work and practice.

I share truths.

If they trigger you or create a feeling within you, that is your work.

The truth is we are living in a Wild West of food where, if you wanted, you can buy international foods at 3:00 AM or even order food at the flick of your thumb on a screen to be delivered to you within the hour.

And part of my coaching practice is helping people navigate this complex world of food, because in our minds and spirits is where we carry food stress and trauma, and that world needs looking at, excavating, and healing, especially if we are struggling with overeating, emotional eating, or chronic disease.

Part of medicine work is finding these sore spots and helping folks navigate the complex landscape of the psyche so that you can confront your demons with a soft landing.

If you are feeling called to pay more attention to how processed foods are successfully marketing themselves to you, make this choice and awareness out of guilt, and allow yourself to also be aware and not outraged, and aware but not anxious.

And may it be that you are being called to upgrade your diet this way to nourish your body, that you're making these choices with food to choose whole foods over processed foods because you want to nourish your body.

It's about taking care of you.

And may it be that your ancestors are calling you back to the land this way so that you can appreciate real food and digest food better so you can digest your life better, to eat the way your body needs, not your sore spots, and to fuel your soul so you may continue on your path in a space of calm and beauty, in solidarity and healthy relationship with the land and the food you're eating.