In the multitudes of discussions that I have had with young mothers and fathers, people approaching or into their "senior" (does that mean graduation is near?) years, and that vast category in between, the common theme is mass confusion about food and health! It seems we need to put a label on our eating: vegan, vegetarian, raw foodist, pescetarian, omnivore, herbavore - oops, now we are approaching the very mammalian roots of our eating categories. Could it be that because we are such a diverse nation that we need to clearly identify ourselves with a label? Does a label make us feel safe, under control? Is there something nebulous and frightening about keeping things loose?
Confusion is the norm here. We are literally bombarded with health messages and warnings from all corners, some well-meaning, some clearly self-serving. We love our children, our partners, ourselves and want to take the very best care to stay healthy. The alternative of withering away in poor health, or being responsible for the poor health of our loved ones, frightens us. Thus we hop around from theory to theory, label to label, article to article, searching endlessly for answers, forever confused.
Maybe, as during a good meditation session, we need to catch and release this fear, this confusion. We need to acknowledge that confusion reigns in the health world. There are no perfect answers. We instead need to be gleaners of themes common to most health claims, wary of absolutes, and completely skeptical of foods with a large corporate interest. We do need to exercise diligence about the sources of our food. But, guilt stresses us as much as poor food. Take it from me, the hours spent bent over a computer or book reading health information isn't half as beneficial for my health as taking that time and hitting the trail along the creek at full speed, laughing at my endless confusion!
Our intention in this blog is to provide information, enable discussion, share insights, and hopefully lighten the burden of guilt. The Omnivore's Solution henceforth is reserved for food and wine. We may mention health issues, but will reserve the majority of sustainability/health banter for The Omnivore's Dialog. Certainly, the recipes on The Omnivore's Solution are largely influenced by the years of reading health information. If you are interested in that, visit this blog, but feel free to enjoy with abandon the food and wine on The Omnivore's Solution
