Sunday, February 13, 2011

Revolution in the Kitchen 101


The first step in food awareness, is just that, awareness:
We have to switch off the automatic routine of fast food, junk food, lousy restaurants, mindless grocery shopping carts full of crap (pardon my language but its' justified!), and lazy food preparation. Its' time to read every label on all food purchased. If there are more than ten ingredients and you can't pronounce them- don't eat it. Food awareness is a process, like a seed that gradually begins to sprout in your consciousness. Nurture it and let it grow, day by day, week by week, until it infiltrates every food choice.

The second step is choice:
What do you choose to eat? It is your choice to fill your body with artificial flavors, brain toxic artificial sweeteners, and harmful preservatives. It is your choice to ingest 22 different pesticides while eating a commercially grown apple. It is your choice to support genetically engineered foods and horrible companies like Monsanto, when you eat food that isn't organic. This is your choice. So, ok, I can hear everyone, stop the lecture! Lets' begin to choose organic, fair trade, and sustainably grown food. Let's choose food for a healthy body, mind, and planet. It is our choice together!

The third step is power:
In every revolution, the people realize there own personal power for change. In the food revolution, one realizes the power of their money, the power in where and to who their money goes to when purchasing food. So much power lies in every monetary transaction we conduct at the grocery store. We have the power to be aware and make good choices as to what we want to support with our money. Going to the farmers' market and local farms supports sustainability and community agriculture. Purchasing 'Fair Trade Certified' products and ingredients brings schools, livable wages, and a higher quality of life to third world sugar and cocoa producers. Buying Organic foods empowers ecologically mindful farmers and companies who are doing good for the planet. Buying standard commercially grown food empowers environmentally disastrous food production and greedy, human rights abusing multinational corporations. You choose what you want to happen in the world with what you buy! This is our collective choice. This is our collective realization of the power inherent in every food purchase made. You have the power to bring change into the world with every bite of food you eat! This is huge, this is big, this is a paradigm shift in being a conscious eating being.

The last step is action:
The food revolution begins, quite simply, with you, with me, with all of us. And it happens in our kitchen! So lets' take action:

Throw away all of that junky, crappy, disgusting, 'food' in the cupboards and refrigerator

Get rid of the microwave- it zaps out all nutrients in food, makes your meal into a plate of
pure free radicals (yuk!), lowers your immune system function and just basically creates bad         
vibed food, literally

Shop at your local farmers' market today or visit the funky food cooperative in your town.
Get to know the farmers', talk to the employees at the health food store, ask questions, learn 
more about where your food comes from

Educate yourself through magazines, books, and the internet about Organic foods, Fair Trade      
certified foods, vegetarianism, raw food diets, healthy food choices, etc... 

Just say no to artificial anything in your food- this means 'Splenda' and all fake, nasty sweeteners
that act as neurotoxins on your brain (i.e. migraines), preservatives, and gross artificial flavors

Be real! Eat real food that is cooked by real people with real ingredients. The age of mass  
produced, machine made, chemically infused, artificially flavored 'food' is so over.

Skip the gas station convenience meal or the fast food lunch- plan ahead and pack your own
food or eat at your local food coops' deli.

Cook for yourself! The conscious eater is going to have to cook for themselves. This does not mean microwaving brown rice. It means having a good knife and basic cookware. It means 
getting comfortable in the kitchen and relearning how to cook in the kitchen. Fortunately,
you have my blog and many others to assist in this process.

Beginning your own food revolution takes time, but most importantly, action. Every day try to do something towards the goal of being a conscious eater. It is a gradual process of relearning and creating a new relationship with our food. One step at a time, one day at a time, one food purchase at a time, one meal at a time...
Join me in our revolution in the kitchen!




2 comments:

  1. Coya, I am super stoked to see the new, fresh beginnings of your page! I am so proud to see you here and have access to your unique cooking and thoughts. Next time you are in Motown, let's cook a meal together, yeah? Would love to feel the energy the two of us could create in the kitchen! Take it easy, girl, and glad you are here!

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  2. Yay! thanks for being the first official post. Yeah I'm excited- it feels good to share with the world. I love collaboration and am totally down for some meals. Do it up with a photoshoot and recipes at the same time and maybe a double blog posting! ha ha
    Bien provecho

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