Kiddipedia
If a food makes you feel good (not just in the moment, but for the rest of the day) and is whole; from a healthy plant, healthy soil or happy animal (if the latter agrees with your ethos), then it’s worthy of a mindful trip down your gullet.
Whole foods withstand every passing trend and come out on top. Actually, they come out your rear, but you know what I mean.
It’s not about what’s ‘on-trend’. What counts, when it comes to food, is what you enjoy, can afford and feel good about investing in.
This principle translates to far more than just food. Though, if we are what we eat, then applying this ethos to food first is an integral place to start. From here, life will follow.
When did it all become so complicated?
Look, if you were;
- well versed in how to distinguish a real food from a pseudo food
- were conditioned to eat intuitively
- and felt justified in serving porridge for dinner on evenings when organising or cooking anything more substantial overwhelms you …
Food companies couldn’t sell you nutrient-devoid foods that conveniently scored a high ‘health star’ rating. Hmmm, suspicious.
You wouldn’t be swayed by advertising period (and not the bloody kind) because you’d eat what you felt like, not what was on display during ad breaks.
Meal Delivery wouldn’t exist because instead of feeling like you had to order in a ‘substantial meal’ you’d just sing an whimsical little ode to your oatmeal and call it a day. Sorry Meal Delivery, I outsourced to my porridge pot.
Your ignorance is their money.
Why are diet books so popular? I mean, if someone had solved the holy grail of eating, wouldn’t they be redundant? For as long as we’re reliant on someone else instructing us on how to eat and shop, advertising has power. We aren’t making independent decisions, we’re looking for others to make them for us. ‘What’s everyone else eating? Cooking? Ordering in? Flip the script. What do you enjoy eating? What cooking methods best serve your digestive tract? I’m tired, would a toasty for dinner suffice? Yes. It. Would. Consider adding an apple to the side for wholesome, filling measure.
Consulting your bowels.
It isn’t second nature to ask, ‘Yo, Connor Colon, what’s feeding ya?’ but it certainly serves you better than jumping on a bandwagon that gives you the runs or the clogs (and not the heavy shoe variety – we’re talking blocked pipes here folks). ‘Listen to your gut’ is essentially what we’re going for here, but that sounds like an affirmation that you’d read on the back of a friend’s toilet door, so let’s jazz it up. ‘Does this food help me poop like a boss?’, how much cooler is that as a dining navigation question?
Planning for the planet.
Also, when it comes to food trends, let us not forget the packaging and food miles involved. Paleo bars in foil. Vegan nuggets, double wrapped. Keto supplements imported from the USA. I’m not buying it, literally! An easy way to feel justified in bucking foodie trends, without sounding like a spoil sport, is to sound like a greenie instead.
Budgets are the new black.
Your dollars, your decision. Fresh produce cycles in and out of season each year and when fruit and veg are in season, they’re mighty cheap. Contrarily, the foodie trends that sweep the supermarket, boast hefty price tags. If you get a thrill from chugging bottled elixirs that cost $10 a pop, don’t let some frugal nutritionist on a parenting site stop you. Just make sure you aren’t re-mortgaging your home to do so. Also, make sure that you actually like the stuff, and aren’t just guzzling it because it sounded alluring on the radio ad. Those pre-recorded voices can make anything – even toilet paper – sound sexy.
The ‘take home’.
Buck the trend, unless it’s practical, enjoyable, bowel-friendly and fits your budget bill.
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