erika g. simon
I attended a workshop on city gardening the other day, and laughed when the farmer pointed out we had all been bitten by “the bug” – the nutrition bug. All I can say to that is, just like bugs are good for the garden, this bug has been great for me.
My interest in nutrition, which started off as just a love of food is now growing past any point of return. At first I just wanted to learn how to make delicious meals, using wholesome ingredients. The cooking course I took last fall allowed a joy of cooking to spiral into an education on our food system, nutrition, food literature and the importance of local farming (the early sprouts of becoming a locavore). But it didn’t end there.
Winter 2012 brought with it some life challenges where being healthy switched in my mind from being an interest to being an essential. When someone dear to you gets sick, you can’t help but question the quality of our food and the chemicals we’re exposing our bodies to. Read the labels on a box of processed food, or read about pesticides on our produce being shipped thousands of miles, or look up the ingredients of your hand soap… it goes on and on but the proof is all around us: we’re not being good to our bodies. Luckily for me, after every winter comes spring, and summer is never too far behind.
To make a long, life-changing story short… at my own pace, I’m trying to implement as much natural into my life as possible. Reducing the use of unnecessary chemicals, eliminating processed foods from my diet and eating locally (as local as my own garden, when possible) is hopefully, only the beginning. This is an exciting, growing process… and I’m learning more each day. I’m valuing every step I take, no matter how small, and I think every motion towards good health is an important one.
I look forward to sharing what I learn on this blog – the failures and successes – as I go.
Bonum Salutem (or, cheers/good health!)
Sounds to me that you’re on a healthy path. As much as I would like to eat healthy, organic and healthy food are just out of the budget. But I took a nutrition class 3 months ago and one of the people teaching said that there’s this place where she orders her vegetables and it’s only like $20.00 per order, and she gets an assortment of vegetables each time. She said that the vegetables are random, so you never really know what you’re going to get, but because of the randomness she learned how to make different types of food. I think she said that there’s also only a limited amount that they sell, so first come first serve.
Next time we get together you’re going to have to cook for Matt and I! And it better be soon!
I look forward to reading your trials and errors. And when you cook for Matt and myself, it better be after the trials and errors have been passed! But we can be your guinea pigs if necessary.