Friday, December 25, 2009

The Nourishing Revolution

It didn't happen over night, but over the last few years farmer's markets have sprung up out of nowhere. In Westernised countries where all the food was thought by small children to come from the supermarket we have seen a revival of the home vegetable garden. Free range eggs have become prevalent, even popular and in countries like the United States where it seemed for a while that cattle feed lots had replaced the small farms for good we have watched as pastured meat has become a fast growing market - for those who can afford it.

In New Zealand we are lucky that it's still cheaper to raise cows out in the paddock than it is to feed them corn that they're not able to easily digest. But almost all the other problems with modern food are just as big and bad here. We have supermarket shelves stocked with packaged items, unreadable ingredients lists masquerading as food. Most of our chicken has been "barn raised" for years, but it's good to see that things are starting to change.

I'm starting this blog to correspond to research I am undertaking for my Masters degree in sociology. You are welcome to comment and participate and your contributions may be useful in my research. My topic is, if you haven't worked it out already, about this nourishing revolution. It's about people getting back into traditional food and learning how to prepare it - especially people in countries like the US and NZ where most of us have a few generations of gradually losing touch with real food and are now finding it again. Of course, the work of Mary Enig and Sally Fallon, the Weston A. Price Foundation and Nourishing traditions have a lot to do with this.

For me food is a passion and a hobby. The best food is delicious and healthy, fresh, pure and ethical. It leaves a pleasant taste in your mouth. Food is currently my main form of escapism (some people drink or read romance novels - I cook). For all these reasons and more I have decided to focus on food for my thesis.


Free range chicken and avocado salad with olives, organic apple, feta and cucumbers.