Transforming ourselves and our world with food

This episode is about “transforming ourselves and our world with food” 

When I talk about food and transformation to some people, they automatically think about those before and after weight loss pictures. This is not what I am talking about, I am talking about something much bigger and deeper. 

In this episode I am going talk about why I think changing our food and food systems can change the world, and why this change will come from the actions of individuals, and communities; and finally I am going to tell you a bit about my own journey with food. 

I always like to start with my vision rather than the problems. My own big vision is that everyone has the capacity to thrive, flourish, to be and feel healthy, and have the capacity to live to their full potential on a planet with abundant, thriving, living systems. 

But our existing economies, food and energy systems are not structured to provide this. In fact, I believe that the only way we can create thriving, healthy, lives on this planet is to create nourishing resilient human-scale food systems that reconnect us to one another and our living planet"

Transcript

Episode 2: Transforming ourselves and our world with food

Hello and welcome to this episode, I am your host Dr. Tara Naylor. Today I am talking about “transforming ourselves and our world with food” 

When I talk about food and transformation to some people, they automatically think about those before and after weight loss pictures. This is not what I am talking about, I am talking about something much bigger and deeper. 

In this episode I am going talk about why I think changing our food and food systems can change the world, and why this change will come from the actions of individuals, and communities; and finally I am going to tell you a bit about my own journey with food. 

Why changing our food and food systems can change the world

I always like to start with my vision rather than the problems. My own big vision is that everyone has the capacity to thrive, flourish, to be and feel healthy, and have the capacity to live to their full potential on a planet with abundant, thriving, living systems. 

But our existing economies, food and energy systems are not structured to provide this. In fact, I believe that the only way we can create thriving, healthy, lives on this planet is to create nourishing resilient human-scale food systems that reconnect us to one another and our living planet"

But we are definitely far from this place at the moment. So here is my food rant …The global food system is failing us, in fact, there are days when I wonder who the current system works for. Our current system seems to be based on quantity and money for the few, regardless of the individual and societal costs for the rest of us. Then the cynical part of me knows who the system is working for, and it is not the farmers, the eaters or much of the life we share this planet with. My own body certainly knows that there is more to food than what is on food labels. I have had my share of food-related headaches, stomach aches, nausea, skin reactions and general discomfort in my body.  

Eating, for most animals is a simple, instinctive (often time consuming) activity. They forage, hunt and eat the foods that are available to them and they even adjust their diets depending on their body’s needs.

In contrast, humans, particularly in developed countries, have made food and eating, complex and emotionally laden. Food is no longer about nourishment and our basic health and well-being. Food has become a powerful part of an economic system based on growth. 

We are surrounded by mixed messages, we are expected to do our best as individuals to maintain healthy bodies, this includes eating a healthy diet. 

Meanwhile the existing system leads large transnational companies to find ever more innovative ways to get us to consume more “value” added foods made from the cheapest ingredients possible. These foods have resulted in food related illness being the number one killer of humans. Doesn’t that strike you as absurd? 

Oh well, the same companies and shareholders who make the value-added foods can then come to our rescue with pills and drugs to cure our problems!

The global food system is the largest user of available energy, the single biggest greenhouse gas emitter, cause of biodiversity loss, land and freshwater user and disruptor of the nitrogen and phosphorus cycle. 

This system has disconnected us from the people and living systems that bring us our food. Okay, that is the end of the rant for now. 

But what is very exciting for me, is that the problem can also be the solution. Why? Because when it comes to food, with our hands, skills and knowledge, it is so easy to become a participant, rather than just a consumer of food. If I wanted to change something like the auto industry, how would I do that? I can’t just go out and build my own car from scratch at home with tools and ingredients that are around my home. 

When it comes to food, I can inexpensively buy seeds, buy or make soil, dig a garden, raise some chickens, change my food shopping practices, learn different ways to store, process, preserve and cook my food. I can easily share food and skills with my family, neighbours, community and beyond. I can engage people at a local level to make meaningful change.  

The fact is, that every single one of us plays a role in our food systems every day, and from my own experience of creating my own systems, and from learning and sharing skills and knowledge, it is an incredibly delicious, life affirming transformation. 

I found this quote in a book called An Edible History of Humanity by Tom Standage

“Throughout history, food has done more than simply provide sustenance. It has acted as a catalyst of social transformation, societal organization, geopolitical competition, industrial development, military conflict, and economic expansion.”  Tom Standage, An Edible History of Humanity

After reading this, I really began to think, that we as individuals and communities can create the social, societal, economic and environmental transformations we need, so that we can thrive and flourish now and well into the future. 

So, what do we really want and need from our food systems? My shopping list is:

• An abundant supply of food that provides enough to feed everyone (that includes my pets).
• We need reliable, resilient systems so that everyone has access to that food at all times. 
• The food needs to be nutrient rich and tasty.
• The food needs to be safe.
• The supply needs to be sustainable for the long term. 
• We need a variety of foods available to account for different preferences and cultural traditions. 
• The system needs to operate within the regenerative and safety limits of the biosphere. 

To sum up, our food needs to be abundant, healthy, resilient, forever (sustainable).  

The existing system is abundant in terms of quantity, but not in so many other qualities and certainly does not distribute food with any form of equity. The existing system is not healthy for eaters, as chronic health conditions are rampant. The system is definitely not resilient as we have seen in the last few years, where supply chain disruptions and huge price increases have been normal. The system is definitely not sustainable, due to its huge energy and non-renewable resource use, land and ecosystem degradation. 

This leads me to…

Why this change will come from the actions of individuals and communities 

What motivated me to completely change my own food story was because I was frustrated with how food was making my body feel and look like. I was frustrated and angry with how the grocery stores were marketing and manipulating food messaging to push particular foods, even supposedly healthy foods, that were not in my best interest. I was frustrated and angry about the lack of transparency of how my food was grown, stored and processed. I was frustrated by the poor access to locally grown foods. Frankly, I wanted to eat food that made me feel good from the inside out. 

The fact is that the people, governments, corporations and shareholders that are benefiting from the existing system are doing very well from it, they just want to keep increasing control, financializing and profiting from it. To expect this system to create healthy, resilient, sustainable food systems, even through regulation is insanity. 

But all over the world there are millions of people with visionary intentions, that are creating systems that are equitable, resilient, sustainable, and healthy for people and planet. Many of the examples that I admire the most come from people that are undervalued or have been marginalized, they have created or reimagined their own food systems from the bottom up by necessity. 

There are so many exciting ideas, concepts, traditional skills and knowledge just underneath the surface, waiting to bubble up and become mainstream. 

My own journey has transformed my relationship with food. I didn’t realize how far I had become until last year. Although I dabbled in growing food for many years, do most of my own food preparation and enjoyed many food adventure, I got really serious about changing my own food systems in 2016. This largely came about due to poor access in the community I live to the foods I wanted and needed to eat, namely local, seasonal, whole, enjoyable, as well as organic grains as my body was reacting to conventionally grown grains. 

I am going to preface this by saying I have had a life long interest in food, health and environment and am certified as a personal trainer, so I was definitely not starting from zero. I had also been a long-time reader of books on sports nutrition, Mother Earth News and many books from activists, farmers etc. 

But what changed was my intention, instead of just being interested in these subjects, and reading them from an intellectual point of view, I became determined to build a system that worked for me in the cold climate that I lived.  I have had successes and failures through this. 

In 2017, I turned a lot of my front green-space into food growing spaces. I bought some fruit trees and shrubs. Some of these have died and others are taking a long time to become productive and have had to battle with wildlife over the harvests. I have found that a mix of heat loving vegetables and some fruit grow well in those spaces, they are continually evolving as the climate changes and my skills increase. I also bought a few chickens too in part to help with some of the insect problems. 

Once of the big decisions I made was to put my “next” generation dogs that arrived in 2017 on a mostly homemade balanced diet once they reached adulthood. My older guys were on a kibble supplemented with liver and vegetables and fruit as snacks, but the bulk of their diet was still, essentially processed food. Due to the cost and availability of some of the ingredients, I got serious about growing the bulk of my winter leafy vegetables, added more chickens so the dogs ate less meat and a couple of years later started raising some turkeys for meat. 

For grains, I learned from an organic farmer how quickly flours lose their nutrition so I got a grain grinder and now buy one sack a year of an old variety of organic wheat. This stores well, tastes much better and I know it is much more nutrient rich. 

I do my food shopping or collection in all different ways now, from buying seeds online and at the feed store, buy sprouting seeds online, buy grain directly from a farm and mill, buy meat directly from farmers or the local processor, buy seasonal fruits through their peak season at markets, trading with neighbours, farm stands, farms and food festivals and then freeze or process them. Generally I buy fruits and vegetables in their peak seasons and store or process them, this way they are at their best for taste and flavour as well as costing a lot less. I have found that I can buy huge sacks of carrots at the feed store quite cheaply, they are often wonky and some might be broken but they taste great. I have learned where and when to source foods where I live that taste great at a reasonable price. Shopping this way also connects me to people in my community, builds relationships and supports local businesses. 

I am getting better at growing food as well and although I do not have massive harvests of any one food, between all the different things I grow, it adds up to a lot of food with ever increasing variety and diversity. Every winter I enjoy selecting different types of seeds and plants, to try out to see if I can grow them and what they taste like. I now love starting seeds in the house in the winter. 

I had not realized how much my relationship with food had changed until 2022 when I noticed how little processed and grocery store foods I now buy. What is more I get so much more enjoyment from my food and have met so many interesting people. Yes, I do spend more time doing food related activities but they are mostly enjoyable parts of my life, not chores and that is a major difference. One big challenge I have is that I find it really hard to keep my kitchen clean and tidy, because if it comes to a choice between growing food, cooking and washing up, the washing up gets left to last. 

I have really enriched my life and health from these food activities, but just imagine if this became normal in our communities, how many small businesses and social enterprises could thrive, how healthy would we be, how much could we change the ecological impact of our food systems, how engaged would we be with one another? 

We know food can transform our health, and the health of planetary living systems. It has done so many times throughout human history. By changing our relationship with food, and the structures which bring us our food, change ripples through the rest of our lives and the world. 

Food and food systems are the largest global employer, economic sector, energy user, land user and in many ways, determinant of our health. If we change our food, everything else can change. 

This is why I think food can change the world, we just have to take action. 

That’s it for me, Tara Naylor today. See you next time.