I have worked as a cook. I love food exploration. I even read (and write) about food. So it would not seem like much of a reach to assume that I enjoy cooking and eating healthy, flavorful, vibrant food all the time. Unfortunately that is not the truth.
The truth is that I do enjoy cooking, but I also prefer not being exhausted by the preparation of a meal. I, like every other working adult and parent out there, have a finite amount of energy and time. When these things are in low supply, I find myself eating quick, easy, convenient food. That is where the cycle begins, because it is those types of foods that contribute to my lower energy levels in the first place.
I am not a nutritionist, dietician, nor a chef. At best, I could be described as a foodie. I say this to clarify that I have no specific knowledge with regard to nutrition other than what most people generally learned in school about the food pyramid. All that said, I do also sense the fact that garbage-in-garbage-out is going to apply here. We need nutrient dense food to run this biological machine we call our body. If we fuel it with trash, the machine will function but it will also scavenge from itself causing deterioration and imbalance, which can lead to negative health outcomes.
This is the broader challenge I see in what I am doing in my current food activism. I am focused on trying to increase my community’s access to nutrient-dense food, but I know from first hand experience that access doesn’t stop at simply getting the food into people’s fridges. Nutrient dense whole food requires cooking and prep. It requires knowledge and time. These are the reasons many of us stock our fridges full of fresh produce and good intentions only to end up throwing away withered vegetables a week later.
My quest to help others eat better does start with making produce logistically accessible, which is why I’m on my farming journey in the first place, but it doesn’t end there. Some people are hampered by a diet of instant and processed foods because they can’t get to the store where better fresher foods are available. However, most of us are actually hampered by an inability to consistently prepare and eat fresher foods.
When we talk about the farm-to-table food system, there are many components to that cycle that must be considered. To really be successful at increasing food related wellness for a community, there has to be nutrient dense raw ingredients available, but there also needs to be knowledge of how to transform those raw ingredients into something that is made delicious through a viable method of preparation. I think the solution to that side of the food access issue can be found in heritage cooking, but that is a thought for another posting.
In short, here is how I see the problem of food insecurity: we have to grow it, we have to get it into people’s hands, but we also have to get that food onto people’s plates. Each of these three major pinch points in the food system need to be orchestrated to truly end food insecurity. We can’t just give people fish; we have to teach them to fish too.
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