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Welcome to the July Carnival of Natural Parenting: Let's Talk About Food

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have written about their struggles and successes with healthy eating. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

Loving Food!

“Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food” – Hippocrates

(fresh organic produce at London's Borough Market)

Food as medicine? Absolutely! This is exactly how my husband and I see food. However, it is not a Mary Poppins type of medicine that requires a spoonful of sugar to go down. For us food is pure pleasure. We LOVE food, we love eating, we love fine food with excellent ingredients and we love that food brings people together in friendship and in love. However, food also has an important job in our lives. We rely on it greatly as one of the strongest elements in our overall health and wellbeing. 

Thinking of food as ‘medicine’ is relatively new for us. It began when we learned we were expecting our first baby and excelled to the forefront of our thoughts when we made the decision to support natural immunity over vaccination. Since then we have been on a gentle journey into the world of health and nutrition. We are continually learning how to maintain our wellness through healthy, wholesome eating and love the empowerment we gain knowing that the more we learn the healthier we are.

(homemade wholegrain bread)

This food journey has taken us backwards into the heart of traditional foods and food preparation. Our meals begin their lives as humble ingredients on my counter and not concoctions from a packet. These humble ingredients are not altered, poisoned or engineered in any way, they are real.  When describing our diet I say simply that we eat ‘Real food’. We eat food that is fresh, local, in season and as close to its natural state as possible.

Our real food diet has meant that most of our grocery shopping does not happen in stores. Our diets consist heavily of raw milk and cream from a local Jersey dairy. We regularly make bone broths and fish stocks with ingredients from a local organic butcher and fishmonger. We travel about a mile down the road to buy organic free range eggs from a local farmer. When we do meander into a grocery store we find ourselves in the boring dried whole foods aisles or the organic vegetable section. We eat loads of pulses and grains that have been soaked, sprouted and fermented and of course we include loads of fresh produce in our meals. Our food is local when we can find it and organic when we can afford it. 

(raw milk from our local dairy)

This traditional way of eating means that my time in the kitchen has dramatically increased but it also means that my cooking skills have vastly improved. This is so much fun. I love preparing something properly knowing that I haven’t taken shortcuts for a ‘meal in minutes’ and that the food I make is not only good tasting but is also richly healthful and filled with the energy of time and love that went into its preparation. 

(dried pulses, a regular additional to our meals)

There are many challenges that accompany this kind of diet. Food is often difficult to source and although it can be purchased on a budget it is not the smallest budget.  Many recipes require several days to prepare; if I do not stay organised we often end up eating just toast and fruit! However, these challenges aside, we are reaping the rewards for adopting this traditional way of eating. We are robust and energetic. We rarely fall ill with more than a simple cold or bug and our children are sturdy and bright eyed. My husband just completed an ultra distance marathon (56 miles of running – crazy!) and he trained on our diet.

Yes, food is our medicine and our insurance for sustaining health but it is also a beloved part of our lives.


Some interesting and helpful resources:
Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon
The Untold Story of Milk by Ron Schmid
Weston A. Price Foundation
Nourished Kitchen



Visit Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

(This list will be updated July 13 with all the carnival links.)

• Welcome to Two — All About Food — In case you hadn't heard, there is a conspiracy afoot from the two year olds of the world. Shana at Tales of Minor Interest stumbled onto their newsletter!
• Four Seasons of Eating Locally — Jenn at Monkey Butt Junction has pointers for what fresh produce can be found year-round. (@MBJunction)
• Happy Families Can Have More Than One Diet — Deb Chitwood at Living Montessori Now has figured out a way for her family to live happily as vegans and vegetarians with relatives who eat meat. (@DebChitwood)
• My Own Omnivore’s Dilemma — Seonaid at The Practical Dilettante prioritizes responsible consumer choices for her family.
• No Gluten — No Cry — Joni Rae at Tales of a Kitchen Witch Momma learned to cook balanced meals when her son's food sensitivities prompted a diet overhaul. (@kitchenwitch)
• Try, Try Again — Stefanie at very very fine has become an enthusiastic consumer of locally grown food.
• CSA — Week 1 — Casey at What Love Is wants her children to know where their food comes from, so she joined a friendly CSA. (@CBerbs)
• Food: Parenting or Homemaking? — Michelle at The Parent Vortex sees food as part of a parent's nurturing role. (@TheParentVortex)
• 5 Tips to Help Kids Develop Healthy Eating Habits — If you struggle with healthy eating, helping your child develop healthy habits might be a challenge. Dionna at Code Name: Mama shares five easy tips that will help your kids learn to make good food choices. (@CodeNameMama)
• Family Food: Seeking Balance Between Healthy, Sustainable & Affordable@sunfrog) — Kristin at Intrepid Murmurings has a whole list of ideas for how she can improve her family's eating, both now and into the future.
• Whole Foods in, Wholesome Feelings Out — Jessica at This is Worthwhile has turned her back on the processed, preservative-ridden food of her childhood. (@tisworthwhile)
• When to Splurge on Organic (and When It Is Okay to Skip It) — Becoming Mamas tell you what foods to prioritize when buying pricier organic food, and where you can find it cheaper. (@becomingmamas)
• TITLE — Acacia at Be Present Mama tells a story in pictures of her family taking a trip to the local organic farmers market and then preparing a summer meal together with their bounty.
• Eat Your Food, or Else — Why should we not bribe a child to eat? TwinToddlersDad from Littlestomaks (Science Driven Real Life Toddler Nutrition) explains.
  (@TwinToddlersDad)
• Food, Glorious Food! — Luschka at Diary of a First Child describes three easy ways her family has started eating healthier. (@diaryfirstchild)
• Celebrating Food — Mrs Green at Little Green Blog believes in food as medicine and thinks it's worth paying more to keep healthy. (@myzerowaste)
• Oil and Yogurt — What have you been motivated to do with the current oil spill crisis? midnightfeedings has started making her own yogurt. (@midnightfeeding)
• Growth-Spurt Soup (AKA “Beannut Stew”)
  — BeanMa has a special stew to help her baby through growth spurts that keep her up all night. (@thebeanma)
• Why I Love The Real Food Community — Much like many people who follow AP/NP values, Melodie at Breastfeeding Moms Unite! takes the parts of the "real food" philosophy that work for her family and leaves the rest. (@bfmom)
• Feeding a Family of Six — Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children gives helpful tips for feeding a family of six.
• Starting Solids at 6 Months — Did your doctor recommend that you give your baby cereal? Sheryl at Little Snowflakes discusses how whole foods are so much healthier (and more delicious) than traditional cereal. (@sheryljesin)
• Am I What I Eat? — Andrea!!! at Ella-Bean & Co. has figured out a way to avoid grocery stores nearly altogether.
• Are We Setting Our Kids Up To Fail? — Megan at Purple Dancing Dahlias found that cutting out the junk also transformed her sons' behavior problems.
• Changing your family's way of eating — Lauren at Hobo Mama has techniques you can try to move your family gradually toward a healthier diet. (@Hobo_Mama)
• Real Food — What kinds of fake foods do you eat? And why?! Lisa C. at My World Edenwild talks about why she chooses real food.
• A Snackaholic’s Food Battle — Julie at Simple Life wants to stop snacking and get into the old ways of cooking from scratch and raising her own food. (@homemakerjulie)
• Food, Not Fight — Summer at Finding Summer doesn't want her kids to grow up like her husband: hating everything green. (@summerm)
• How Do You Eat When You Are out of Town? — Cassie at There's a Pickle In My Life wants some tips on how to eat healthy when you are out of town.
• Carnival of Natural Parenting: Food! — Sybil at Musings of a Milk Maker hopes that by serving her children healthy, balanced meals, they will become accustomed to making good food choices. (@sybilryan)
• There's No Food Like Home's — NavelgazingBajan at Navelgazing revels in the Bajan food of her upbringing. (@BlkWmnDoBF)
• This Mom's Food Journey — Kat at Loving {Almost} Every Moment made a journey from not paying attention to food to growing her own.
• Who Knew Eating Was So Hard? — The challenges involved in changing to healthier eating habits take on a whole new dimension when you have a child who has difficulties eating. kadiera at Our Little Acorn shares her own experiences. (@kadiera)
• Loving Food — Starr at Earth Mama truly believes food is her family's medicine and is willing to spend days preparing it the traditional way.
• Food Mindfulness — Danielle at born.in.japan details how her family spends money on each category of food. (@borninjp)
• Food for Little People — Zoey at Good Goog wants to bless her daughter with happy traditions built around good food. (@zoeyspeak)
• Eat Like a Baby — Have you been told that you should not equate food with love? Kate Wicker at Momopoly shows us why that's not necessarily true. (@Momopoly)
• Food — Deb at Science@Home tries to teach her children three rules to help them eat a healthy diet. (@ScienceMum)
• Healthy Eating Lactose-Free — MamanADroit gives us tips on how to eat healthy if you are lactose intolerant (or just don’t want cow milk). (@MamanADroit)