my southern food epiphany

i just returned from traveling. bj and asher are still in california.

when we were in the south, we ate food from the south. it was tasty. and very greasy. and hard to resist. partly because it was tasty. partly because i didn't want to miss out on what everyone else was eating. partly because i've gotten into some pretty unhealthy habits in terms of what i choose to eat.

as the days passed, i found my energy level getting lower and lower. i wasn't really aware of it until a few days into the trend. and even then, i didn't really have a sense of what was going on for me. until right towards the end of my time in mississippi, we went out with some old friends of the harden jones family to a southern family restaurant with classic mississippi cuisine- fried catfish, fried chicken, fried pickles, fried hushpuppies, fried potatoes, fried onions. and cole slaw and greens. i was pretty hungry and i ate of it all...

then it dawned on me... the food i'd been eating was contributing to my energy and general feeling in my body. i basically was clogging up my system with lots of tasty but non-nourishing foods.

then, the first day of the stone workshop i went to after i left mississippi, i got sick. headachy and a little fevery. i went to bed right after the day's work ended at around 5. as i laid in bed, sensing all that was going on in my body and noticing the thoughts that went along, i made some agreements with myself about how i wanted to make some changes in how i treat my body. specifically regarding the food i take into myself to nourish it. below is a rough overview:

things that nourish my body and contribute to my health and energy that i want to eat regularly:

• whole grains


• organic fruits and vegetables


• fermented foods


• local, organic, compassionately raised meats (on occasion)


• local, organically raised eggs


• nuts and dried fruits


• sprouted and other live foods


• organic milk, cheese, butter and yogurt


• foods sweetened with honey (on occasion)


• live, clean water


• basically whole, local foods

things that don't nourish my body that i'd like to eat only on special occasions:

• sweet foods with processed sugar


• coffee and teas with caffeine


• salt and salted foods


• processed or fractured foods (foods that have been broken down and recombined)


• chlorinated and fluorinated water, and water stored in plastic


• basically processed foods that come from far away

things i'd like to learn more about and maybe relate to differently:

• foods made with wheat and gluten


• dairy from cows versus goats or sheep

i've been eating more aligned with these choices from the past four or five days and i've noticed a different in how i feel already. not only physically, but emotionally too. i feel better about myself when i know that i'm making choices that demonstrate care for myself and my health.

i also feel clear that i'm not trying to be dogmatic about my attitudes toward food. i don't plan on being absolute about only eating "these things" and never eating "those things." but having some clear guidelines that i articulate for myself has been useful in the past and seems to be helping already this time around too.

dead prez really says it better than i can:



be healthy