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Welcome! It’s almost Spring, with daylight savings and mud season in New England. I am busy planning my trips for this coming Fall. The focus of my exploration, teaching, writing, and recipes is centered on health. And yes, I know that can be vague and leave loads of room for questions. But I know that if I pay attention to the ingredients I put on my table, if I look to use real ingredients that are raised right and harvested right, that is a great beginning for me and my family, and also for the health of the planet. It is my intention to consider how my daily interactions, routines, and practices can deliver a benefit to the natural world. Yep, it’s a tall order. But that’s what I look for. That is what I am seeking whether I am at home and shopping for my meals or out in the world, traveling and meeting new people and new challenges. My goals include finding and supporting those who produce nutritionally dense foods while balancing the climate (and that is a win for human health), and while bringing ecosystems back to life. Over and again, when I look at farmers and fishermen whose practices are balancing and regenerative, I find food systems that are healthy. Though it may be politically controversial: agrochemicals may grow more food, but at what cost? Are we really feeding more people? Our current food system subsidizes crops that are made to be cheap (both in quality and in price). Cheap and often generally highly processed food. Add to that downside the stress caused by the low-paid labor to produce this food––and that cost must include high rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. The US government spends almost $1.15 trillion per year to address diet-related diseases, as well as food insecurity and the impact of pollution on health. It seems obvious that exposure to a pesticide, herbicide, or fungicide is harmful. Any exposure to pesticides is a problem. Yet animals are raised in factories (on grains loaded with pesticides) and somehow we are duped into believing that this is the only way to raise animals for our meat consumption. Yes, grass-fed beef is more expensive, but perhaps we must eat less, make smaller meat portions and eat more plants. Some of you have heard my story about the chicken that fed twelve of us each week. Yes, once a week or more, my mother roasted a whole chicken and it fed twelve of us. We each got a glass of milk, a big salad, a lot of mashed potatoes, and some sort of overcooked vegetables along with a few slices of meat. And believe me, we took turns getting a whole leg, and back then chickens were a lot smaller! My point is that it is possible to eat high-quality food. If we take out the processed food, the “empty calories” like cereals, crackers, chips, etc. I argue that the amount of money saved in buying these products allows budget room for more real food.
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