Chapter 1: the World of Food
Chapter 1: The World of Food
The question What does it mean to eat well? is like a ball of string that’s been attacked by a kitten.
“I eat pretty well” – what does this mean?
When I first told ppl I was writing this book, I called it a cookbook, b/c to explain that it was a book about the whole of food and eating seemed too unmanageable or incomprehensible. When I said I was writing about food and eating, ppl seemed puzzled. Why would we need a book about food and eating? (Or they said “Like Michael Pollan! Have you read that omnivore book?” Yes. Sigh.)
You don’t need a new diet plan. You need a relationship with food.
Relationship with food = relationship to the world.
[eating flowchart]
eating is connected to:
- biological/physical processes
- eating behaviour
- digestion, absorption
- metabolome, individual differences (picky eating, allergies/intolerances, metabolism of things like caffeine, hormones)
- social/cultural – small scale
- family, friends
- relationships with intimate partners
- caregiving
- expectations (interpersonal)
- household routines and structure
- what are you culturally attached to?
- social/cultural – large scale
- expectations (social)
- food culture
- psychological/spiritual/behavioural
- stress
- identity – who am I?
- role – what part do I play?
- modeling of behaviour
- cooking skills and aptitude
- value given to food and eating
- time
- chrononutrition and circadian rhythms
- mealtimes (ghrelin, etc.)
- feast-famine times and seasons
- seasonal eating and availability of food
- economic
- what can you afford?
- what are you willing to pay?
- what is cheaply priced?
- geographic/physical space
- where you physically eat
- home space (kitchen makeover)
- public space – restaurants, conceptualization of how to act in public spaces
- communities/neighbourhoods
- transport – yours and the foods
- regions
- agricultural distribution – what can you grow, why is it grown, how does it get to you? local vs global farm systems
- patterns of global food distribution
All of these are connected – give examples
Think Globally, Eat Locally
-the real cost of food (price, value, TRUE cost – systemwide)
-how much we CAN pay, how much we think we SHOULD pay; subsidies for fake foods
-Healthy Food Bank
-where did it come from?
-how did it get to me?
Hungry Omnivore Seeks Sanity for Meaningful Relationship
Of Biochemistry and Bananas: Nature’s Medicine Cabinet
-everything is already found in nature – Leonardo]
worse better – goal is to move along continuum