. . . With prudence and thanksgiving
The quick answer: The path to eating well begins in the head. Practice prudence and thanksgiving.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reflections
A few years ago my interest turned to nutrition. Could a normal person, amidst all the confusion about food, I wondered, solve the puzzle of what to eat? In the beginning, it seemed as simple as “eat this, not that.” Now, several years into the journey, I respect the complexity of nutrition, and the simple elegance of traditional foods. The answer to what we should put in our mouths seems to begin with what’s in our head—our outlook.
In the ‘30s a pioneering dentist researched the cause of tooth decay by visiting the aborigines of every continent and clime, comparing their teeth to those of their cousins who had moved to the city and converted to the modern diet. The native dietary was as varied as their landscape but one thing was constant: natives living on their traditional foodstuffs rarely had dental decay or the need for orthodontia; their cousins who moved to the cities and ate the modern diet did. Dr. Price demonstrated that cavities could be healed by diet reform, and thought it a better solution that drilling and filling the cavity. He wrote a book that became a classic after his death, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. He also made an important conclusion: The cavity in your tooth is not a problem of that tooth—it’s an early warning of a health problem affecting your whole body.
If you've heard of Dr. Weston A. Price, you’re an unusual person. If your dentist is aware of his work, he’s also unusual because the powers-that-be didn’t want to hear Dr. Price’s message—that improving nutrition was a better solution than drilling and filling the cavities as they occurred.
This is a provocative idea, that eating right starts with thinking right. In this post we discuss two attributes of people who see beyond the conventional wisdom—prudence and thanksgiving—by first looking at those remarkable Pilgrims who founded the first successful colony in America.
The First Thanksgiving, 1621
You know the story of the Pilgrims sitting down with their Indian benefactors to celebrate the first harvest. They counted themselves blessed, even though their condition was most humble. Their survival had hung in the balance—of the 104 Mayflower passengers just 53 survived the first winter. Weakened in numbers, they held their burials at night, lest the Indians see and take advantage. But now, stronger for what they had overcome and with the harvest safely gathered, they paused to return thanks.
In Boston, one’s social standing improves if Mayflower ancestors are proven. It’s not such a rare thing—millions of Americans are descents but most are unaware. I once checked our family history against the Mayflower passenger list and found the Chilton family, of whom only Mary Chilton, age 13, survived that first winter, and George Soule, sponsored by Edward Winslow, the sometimes governor. Mary later married John Winslow, Edward’s brother, so there is a tie to the Winslow family. This led me to an interest in Pilgrim and Puritan history, and a few stories I like to recount on Thanksgiving. I gained one other thing: an appreciation for the hard-earned Pilgrim values of prudence and thanksgiving.
The Specter of Famine
In recent years we’ve heard disquieting discourses on the decline of food stocks around the world, as well as people impoverished by the resultant rise in prices. Last week Stanford hosted a conference and Kofi Annan, past UN secretary general and Nobel Laureate, made these points:
- The number of hungry people, about a billion, is growing rather than shrinking.
- Food reserves around the world are also shrinking, which increases the risk of global famine.
- Africa is key; though plagued by dysfunctional governments, it possesses 2/3 of the world’s unused arable land.
Unless there are fundamental changes, the shortage of sufficient affordable food will continue to grow. Annan called for Western nations to give more money to develop Africa. I was okay until Annan asked for money—I question whether more Western money is the answer.
Here’s a trend that Annan didn’t mention: As nations develop and grow in prosperity, they adopt the modern American diet (MAD). The MAD diet is high in meat (the least productive use of land and water) and refined grains (the least healthful use of the world’s main food commodity). Because foreign aid tends to advance the agenda of the donor nation, it’s likely that Western aid will simply spread the MAD diet.
Prudence
Here’s a prudent idea: Before we can properly help the world to eat, we must first learn to eat well ourselves. This is best done if we embrace the qualities of prudence, meaning to be “canny, careful, cautious, circumspect, discerning, discreet, economical, far-sighted, frugal, judicious, provident, sagacious, thrifty and vigilant.”
This morning I took the garbage cans out to the curb for collection. One container is for garbage, the other for things to recycle. In the past the cans would be overflowing but now, after a year of learning how we should eat I’m surprised that we’re creating less garbage. We buy more whole foods, and less packaged goods. We cook a little more, but we waste less.
I met a charming woman recently who was Basque, visiting from a small town in the Pyrenees Mountains of southern France. I wondered about her diet, about her food traditions. Last month she commented on this blog, sharing a family recipe for eggplant—La Zingara (which translates, I think, to “gypsy girl”). Last night I made the recipe, a sauce that we put on homemade bread, for dinner. It was tasty, healthy, and economical, so I share the Basque Woman’s (as she identified herself) recipe:
Recipe for Eggplant La Zingara
Ingredients:
1 big eggplant
1 or 2 T tomato paste, or 3 tomatoes if you have time to cook them down.
1 clove garlic
1 T olive oil
½ cup grated Swiss cheese (I used a cup)
Directions:
1. Boil water, well salted, sufficient to cover the eggplant. Peel and cube the eggplant. Plunge the cubes into boiling water. Cover and cook until soft.
2. In a separate pan, cook the garlic in olive oil and add tomato paste or tomatoes. Cook the tomato mixture until the eggplant is done.
3. Put the drained eggplant cubes and the tomato mixture in a blender and puree.
4. Return the eggplant mixture to the pan, heat gently, and stir in the grated cheese, until melted.
5. Serve the eggplant as a sauce over bread, or meat.
Note: Rather than open a can of tomato paste, I used some tomatoes about to go bad. This added more liquid than using tomato paste so rather than take time to cook down the mixture, I doubled the cheese to thicken the sauce. It tasted great and was easy to make.
Message to the charming Basque Woman: More family recipes please.
The Bottom Line
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving day. If you have time read this N. Y. Times article about the benefits of thankfulness. There is something healing about the "attitude of graditude." Here's another benefit: If we are filled with the wisdom of prudence and thanksgiving for food as it comes from Nature, the siren song of Food Inc’s marketers will have no influence with us.
Please comment on how a prudent attitude affects what you eat. Or how thankfulness for food as it comes from nature guides what you buy.
Need a reminder? Download our Healthy Change reminder card. Print and fold, then place in your kitchen or on your bathroom mirror to help you remember the Healthy Change of the week.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011 at 1:34PM | by Skip Hellewell | 13 Comments | 3 References | Share Article | in healthy change | Email Article 
Reader Comments (13)
I get to be the first to comment, and to thank YOU. You have dedicated so much time to this blog in hopes to create some change, and I want you to know that you have succeeded! At least with me. I have fundamentally changed the way I look at food, and it all started right here. I've always been a relatively healthy eater and lover of good food, especially when enjoyed in the company of others, but now my food philosophy has truly changed. I've learned so much here and I've expanded to other sources: books, blogs, and a deeper study and appreciation for the Word of Wisdom. I look forward to good health for me and my family, and I look at food with greater thanksgiving for the amazing and wonderful gift that it really is!
Well, here's an example of not using prudence; I overdid it with the Halloween candy this year. The only prudence that entered this picture was giving it away after 3 days. I told friends it was going in the trash and they didn't want to see that happen. I gave it away enthusiastically. I am so grateful for healthy food after that experience! Oddly enough, I dreaded the candy that came with the holiday this year. After eating well for most of the year I knew it would take a toll on my body to eat the candy. Unfortunately, I seem to lose all control once I start eating it. It is an addictive poison. Prudence would have saved me from feeling ill.
I typically use reason to keep myself on a more healthy track, but once derailed by toxic "foods" all reason seems to be lost. I think sitting down and realizing how blessed we are to have all the healthy foods that God created for us is wise. If we understand that He gave us everything we needed here on this earth to live full, healthy lives maybe we would slow down and truly savor the varieties of whole, nourishing foods we have -without overindulging in them.
I am thrifty by nature. My parents are thrifty and frugal. Waste not, want not is a mantra I live by. I hate waste. We waste more food than we should (which of course is none) but I am conscious of it and am working on using more of everything we buy and throwing away less every week and month. Not only is it smarter for our budget, but it's a good example to my children, and also shows appreciation for the abundance of food that we as Americans really enjoy.
Excellent post Skip. Happy Thanksgiving. This is my favorite holiday.
Weston A. Price is the man! Thanks so much for highlighting his discoveries; I knew you'd get to him eventually. :) I don't mean to be cynical or negative on this thankful day, but I think one of the biggest problems with our nation's food culture--or lack thereof--is a recognition and appreciation for where food comes from. Too many people think breakfast comes from Kellogg's, lunch comes from Oscar Meyer, and dinner comes from McDonald's. But somewhere, someplace, originated the real food that eventually morphed into the highly processed foods that the majority of Americans consume on a daily basis. I think the real tragedy in the commercialization of the food industry is not the lack of cows in our backyards, but the lack of understanding that GoGurt, Dreyer's, and Nesquik came from a living creature, and that most of the packaged goods in the middle aisles of the grocery store came from a cornfield in Iowa. I don't say this to put myself on a pedastal, but I am truly grateful for the desire I have to know where my food comes from and the knowledge that I have been able to gain through consistent inquiry and thought. I do appreciate that the cultural tide is shifting, and I hope that one day I can be thankful that the Standard American Diet has given way to a new food culture dominated by traditional, nutrient-dense foods that don't require scientists and shiny packaging to be in demand.
Thanks for all you do, Skip. You are a changing lives, and I'm grateful to you for that.
A few thoughts about your post. The MAD diet is also called the SAD diet (Standard American Diet) - it is SAD that we have such poor habits. Also, regarding the dental issues. I've read but not with a lot of research that the toothpaste we use has soap in it for lathering and is toxic as well as the fluoride rinse that is pushed on our children (did you do a post on this already?). I live in South America where fresh food is abundant and processed food is more difficult to come by unless you have a commissary to shop in! In the short 18 months we have lived here I have noticed more and more American food finding its way into the stores but there is truly an abundance of junk from this country too like Inka Cola - the poor people here drink more coke and inka cola then water. I wanted to comment on the comment above about Halloween candy. I just throw ours away after Halloween. I did think about saving it for the poor but what good would that do them? Really - should I give them what is unhealthy just because I feel guilty? I say throw it out! I love the blog from Green Smoothie Girl as she really conquers this subject well on throwing out candy. I think you would also like the mnmlist.com blog. It seems in line with your teachings. Thanks so much for your posts filled with history and facts. Happy Thanksgiving!
Cherilyn, it was hard to find one person who would take my candy- and she only took it because I was going to throw it away. I think next year we will trick-or-treat a little less so we don't end up with as much and then throw away what is left. I give my kids 3 days every year and then it goes. Some people just skip trick-or- treating all together, but I don't want my kids growing up feeling like they are missing out on everything. They tend to rebel more when that happens. So I just set limits. They already limit the amount they eat as they have discovered how it makes them feel less than great when they eat a ton of it. I always feel bad giving away the bad stuff, so next year I plan to just throw it away. Thanks for you input!
Cherilyn, nice to hear from you. The standard American diet has a great acronym, SAD. I guess we prefer MAD (modern American diet) because "standard" suggests something acceptable. There's little acceptable about the modern diet.
In the post titled "The Power of Friends" (go to http://wordofwisdomliving.squarespace.com/home/the-power-of-friends.html) we discussed the rise and decline of cigarette smoking in the last century and saw that as a model, terrible as it is, for how the MAD will spread from America to the developing nations. Living in South America, you are witnessing the rise of MAD; in time people will see the consequential chronic diseases, ignore it for a while, and then, slowly, will began to take action, seeking healthier food.
For cigarettes this cycle took a century. Addictive foods make a good business, even if mildly addictive. I think Food Inc. understands this model, they're smart guys, and simply figure they'll retire before people wake up. The purpose of this blog is to make that awakening happen sooner by informing people of the consequences of MAD, and helping to rediscover traditional diets, all around the world, guided by the wisdom of science, tradition, and scripture. Don't laugh, but in our humble way, we're doing our part to save the world. Happy Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours Skip! We bought our turkey directly from a farmer this year (whom we met in a parking lot no less) and developed a fondness for it during the time it spent thawing in our refrigerator. My sister and I named him Carlisle, and checked every day to see how he was progressing. Beginning with a focus on nutrition has allowed me to become more connected to my food and where it comes from. Shaking the hand of the person who raised my turkey, and thinking about the fact that a life was ended for me to have my meal changed the way I ate my Thanksgiving dinner.
Lately I've been thinking about Native Americans. From what I've learned, they were "frugal in the midst of plenty," only taking from nature what they knew they would eat. Those tribes who hunted used every part of the animal to honor its life. This is something that our family is making an effort to do. As part of our thanksgiving to God and what he has provided for us we are saving all of our turkey parts for soup, vegetable peelings for broth, etc. This is part of a concerted effort to have more gratitude our daily lives, and to think less of food as a resource in abundance; but (as all of God's creations are) more as a treasure to be honored.
Great post. I think the way you think about food really does impact your health. I've been struggling to relax about what my kids eat when we visit certain family and friends because me being controlling doesn't help anything.
We had a great thanksgiving yesterday with my huge extended family. The food was (mostly) real food and absolutely delicious. My grandma also made a poster that showed how we are related to John Alden, who came across on the Mayflower, so I really enjoyed reading your post today.
I think people are wanting to change the way they eat; in my neighborhood of mostly young families, I find a lot of support from other young moms who are trying to feed their families real, nourishing food. The problem I see is that Food, Inc. is using this change to their advantage and trying to make small changes to processed food and then market it as healthy food. Bottom line, we are meant to eat real food and cook it ourselves. Processed food might not hurt once in a while, but if we want to be healthy, we've got to eat real food.
Also, I made a delicious (and easy and economical) soup the other day that I thought I'd share:
Velvety Ginger Carrot Soup
Saute one onion, diced, and 1 T of minced fresh ginger in some butter until onion is translucent
Add about 3 pounds of peeled, roughly chopped carrots, a cup of chicken stock and water to just cover. Bring to a boil and simmer until carrots are very soft. Puree with an immersion blender or in batches in a blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper and serve with sour cream and fresh bread.
This fall,my husband and I had the opportunity to hunt caribou here in Alaska. It was an incredibly eye opening experience! To actually hike into the mountains, harvest an animal, pack it out on your back, and process it once we got it back home gave me a greatere appreciation for what we have. We live in a country where food is so accessible that we take a lot for granted.
After our hunting trip, it also occured to me how disconected we are from where our food actually comes from. After being so hands on with the caribou, I had to wait quite a while before actually eating the meat because, honestly, I was a little grossed out :-) But being a part of harvesting your own food is very healthy. Both my husband and I's grandparents grew up on farms where, if you were having chicken for dinner, you went out to the coop, caught a chicken, and started getting dinner ready. This is something that neither my children or I have ever expereienced and I think we are missing out on an important part of truly appreciating what we have.
Hi Lindsey. Thanks for sharing your recipe for carrot soup.
Your sequence of thought was very good. If we add Jess's thoughts, we get something like this:
1. If you want to be healthy you must eat real food.
2. Eating real food requires us to take back much of the processing of food.
3. Processing food (cooking) in the home requires reinventing lost skills.
4. Reinventing cooking in one of the most interesting and rewarding challenges of our time.
The best and brightest women (and a few good men) of this generation are the pioneers in doing this. It's as though they follow a new star and become immune to Food Inc's cleverly deceptive advertising. I think this one of the essential happenings of our time——the best path to avoid national bankruptcy (through rising health care costs), or global famine. Our best to all you who are part of this new adventure.
Skip, just a quick question about the eggplant recipe. Do you drain the cubes before you add them to the tomato?
Best,
Julie
Julie, Yes; I modified the recipe to make that clear. Thanks for catching that ambiguity.