Food

What is your food philosophy?

We all need to eat. Some live to eat. Others eat to live. Some barely eat at all. The terms for describing how we eat are endless. Do we really need to define ourselves by these terms?

“Live simply so others may simply live”

After years of playing with names, restricting myself to certain foods and constantly feeling like I wasn’t living up to what I said I was, I gave up on labels when it comes to how we eat here at home. It’s a recipe for failure.

What I have concluded is that we like what we like. Certain foods are proven healthy, others are not.

Eat well. Be grateful. Be moderate. Don’t try to label yourself. You are human.

Since I was young, I never liked meat. It’s just my preference. In my quest for health and happiness I have been all things: hardcore vegan, raw-foodist, lacto-ovo veggie, wheat-free bread lover, macrobiotic, sugar-free, all of it.

The quest for me has been to learn (and practice – the hardest part) moderation in all things.

Through fasting, perhaps we can model the kind of self acceptance and discipline that is sorely lacking from our ‘all or nothing’ approach to life. Simply becoming more aware of our actions is a very powerful thing.

Marrying a meat eater taught this hard-core veggie girl a pretty good lesson about how one diet isn’t right for all, and there is only one true road to happiness, health, and strong communities (IMHO):

More compassion. More acceptance. More middle ground.

It’s been a life long focus for me, and is a huge driving force behind the vision for Not So Fast.

We want to talk about how we eat. We want to share the wealth. And we want to give back, because really, we all can. We believe we all can.

Food is just so important. And so are people. All people.

The following folks work and influence played a big part in shaping my attitude towards food by providing information and tools that I have used as an adult and as a mother and wife.

Check these guys out if you like, some are older, some are newer, all are valuable.

• Mirreille Guiliano – French Women Don’t Get Fat. This book is simply put one of the most valuable books I have ever read. The French know how to live, and now we can too.
• Ann Wigmore – Pioneer of the Living Foods lifestyle and inventor of wheat grass, (ironically she died in a fire).
• John Robbins – Author of Diet for a New America. This book changed my life forever. It’s an eye opener for anyone and still relevant to this day.
• Victor Kulvinskas – Author of the Survival into the 21st Century – the most comprehensive and ‘out there’ health book you will ever read. Worth checking out. This was a bible in our household growing up and this guy pretty much covers it all.
• Paul Bragg – Mr. Apple Cider Vinegar himself, this guy was the first advocate of fasting I crossed paths with as a teen.
• Natalia Rose – Detox the World. Natalia is a believer in simple, uncomplicated raw food living. Quite refreshing in a world of wheatgrass and sprouts.
• Mollie Katzen – Author of the Moosewood Cookbook. Enough said.
• Michael Pollan – Author of the Ominvore’s Dilemma and In defense Of Food.
• Frances Moore Lappe – Author of Diet for a Small Planet.
• Tsiporah and Paul Grignon – Pioneers of Simple Living. My Parents.

Visit the ‘IPOM Recipes‘ page for updates on the food book I am compiling. Any approach to life should be holistic – I hope to inspire ways to eat well with less, using simple, nourishing, fresh (and most of all delicious) ingredients.

It is through this project I hope to offer something of value to anyone looking to join me on my journey to finding more with less 🙂

Feel free to share your own thoughts with us below on how you like to eat for your own well being – and just how it is you might have arrived there 🙂