Working in the nutrition field, people often ask me whether this food or that food…
My Food and Nutrition Manifesto
This is mostly for me. I showed the title of this post to my husband and he told me nobody would be interested in reading a manifesto. And that’s ok. Because I wrote this as a guiding post for me. I need to articulate my fundamental beliefs about food and nutrition so I can make sure everything at Smart Nutrition aligns with that!
The reason I’m publishing them is to be transparent and let my readers know what I’m all about. If these resonate with you, then you’ll probably enjoy sticking around here a little longer 🙂
My Food and Nutrition Manifesto
- I believe that eating was meant to be a joyful experience, shared with family and friends.
- I believe that food was meant to be delightful and full of flavour. If the only reason for food was sustenance, God would have just given us boring old manna.
- I believe that healthy eating can fit into anyone’s budget.
- I believe that our bodies’ signals are the most finely tuned way to know how much food to eat.
- I believe that eating food close to the way it was grown is the most healthful. However I also believe that a food or ingredient shouldn’t be feared simply because it was manufactured.
- I recognize that optimal nutritional status may sometimes need to be met with supplements, but I believe in turning to food first.
- I believe that all people should acquire basic cooking skills.
- I believe our bodies’ were designed to work optimally with the ebb and flow of regular meals and snacks.
- I believe that fruits or vegetables should make their appearance at every meal and snack.
- I believe that ice cream and chocolate are basic necessities of life.
Do these resonate with you? What would you include if you had a food manifesto?
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Here is our program’s ‘manifesto’ (well, blurb on our website…!) — Ellyn Satter (Herself 🙂 ) told us she loved it!:
“Eating doesn’t just define your physical health. It goes beyond preventing heart disease, getting enough of a vitamin, or having a healthy weight.
Meals and snacks can fuel or foil our learning, work, play, relationships, and even our economy. What we eat defines us, our families, our cultures, our communities, and our beliefs.
Interior Health’s Food Security and Community Nutrition Program believes that healthy eating is the cornerstone of good physical and mental health, and should never feel like a chore. We hope our resources help you enjoy healthy eating.”
Love it! What a fantastic program you work for! And you got the stamp of approval from Ellyn Satter herself? Then you KNOW you’re on the right rack 🙂
I’m glad you shared this post, Jessica. If I had a manifesto, I think most of it wouldn’t even make sense; where would I begin? One thing is for certain, “all foods fit, all”.
Talk soon,
Nita
I love this manifesto! It’s very similar to what I imagine mine would be if I set it down on paper. #9 is something I believe but definitely do not practice, especially for breakfast, and which I’d like to work on. I’d love to hear of any neat tricks/quick ways of doing this in a pinch if you haven’t already covered it!
Hi Keira!
Are you looking for ways to eat more fruits and veggies in general or more specifically at breakfast? A reader recently showed me this article and so many of the tips are what I often tell people! http://www.thekitchn.com/10-easy-ways-to-eat-more-vegetables-every-day-reader-intelligence-report-164945
Thanks, Jessica, that’s great!
Yeah, breakfast is the biggest struggle for me as I rarely get in fruit or veggies. We did just sign up for CSA boxes so I’m excited to try some new things.
This list is great. I just need to get in the habit of doing them! Funny how many of the things aren’t actually hard or time-consuming, just not the way we were raised. And it’s amazing how much of our food habits are “unconscious” even when we think that we give food a lot of thought.