What's for supper? Some interesting reading about food.

This is the question that has given me fits for almost a quarter of a century. I really don't mind cooking but I hate trying to think of what to cook. If someone would just tell me what to make, I'd happily make it. Or so I thought.

A couple of years ago I came across the idea that perhaps I should be questioning not only what to cook but how to cook it and where in the world did the food come from? As I began to look into nutrition and the SAD(Standard American Diet) and health issues arising from poor nutrition I realized that I needed to do some serious contemplating and praying for guidance on how to best provide nutritious meals for my family                                                                         

This is the book that started it all. I was browsing in Pioneer Book in Provo for homeschool resources and the title of this caught my eye. I picked it up and flipped through it. The author's story was so compelling that I bought the book so I could read about his story in depth. 

    

That led me to look into this book and

this one.This book I also found very compelling simply for  the reason that I was trained and worked as a dental assistant for several years. I was absolutely fascinated by the photos showing obvious deformities of the facial structure and dentition.        

Last fall I read this book that addresses specifically eating locally, in season. The theme shared is that we need to know where our food is from, who grew it, how they grew it and that it's more nutritious if it is not imported or hasn't been sitting in warehouses since before it was ready to be picked. Made me wish I lived in a place that had a longer growing season and more water to allow a wider variety of things to be grown. Made me start looking into greenhouses.

This is my latest read. Saw it on Barnes and Noble and thought it would be worth reading. It has lots of quotes in it from various LDS people/journals. Each chapter addresses a different type of food and shares how that food was incorporated into the diets of early to modern LDS people. It's very interesting.

As a mother, it is my duty and responsibility to nurture and care for my family. Have I been damaging them rather than nourishing them by the food I am preparing for them? That is a sobering thought. I am still trying to come to a conclusion about how to best feed my family.  It would be easy to become disheartened and frustrated given the state of our 'food' in this country today. I am concerned about the amount of chemicals and non-food substances that we put into our bodies. I believe we need to eliminate them from our diet, and attempt to eat foods in the state God created them, whole and as unprocessed as possible. As I study about food and nutrition I take the LDS Word of Wisdom as my guide. Found here in Doctrine and Covenants Section 89. 

If something I'm reading about goes against what the Word of Wisdom teaches me, then I have to question the validity of that information. As an example, I looked into the Primal/Paleo type diet. I just can't reconcile not eating grains and legumes with what the Word of Wisdom says. 

14 All ^agrain is ordained for the use of man and of beasts, to be the staff of life, not only for man but for the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven, and all wild animals that run or creep on the earth;

That said, I do believe that we have a growing health problem caused by eating grains that have been prepared improperly. The Nourishing Traditions book teaches how to properly prepare them so that the vital nutrients contained in them are available to be used by our amazing bodies. 

So my quest is to glean the truth from these books and apply it in my family and home. It means learning to prepare some foods differently and learning to eat things in ways I've never tried before. 

Even though it's been a rather hard road, (hard in realizing how much I could be doing better) it's also been a very fulfilling road. I can't explain how it feels to know that the time I have spent on studying and learning has been so worth it and that the time I take to prepare nutritious food never feels like wasted time. 

A couple of other resources I've found useful:

This blog post by Tara-her whole blog is about NT type eating

Sarah's entire blog

Some eye-opening information about the SAD(Standard American Diet)

Big Fat Fiasco-1st part of a 5 part lecture on the truth about fats in our diet.

Hungry for Change - documentary about diet and health and our need to change what/how we eat.