As you may have noticed there is a great emphasis on Food in this blog, some may even question that I should have written a food blog not an urban homesteading blog. But I think food is the underlying reason for almost everything we do in life, no matter the lifestyle we lead. Many of us work jobs purely to be able to put food on our families table. Sure the table could be a blanket on the ground or in a top restaurant where isn’t important. The common factor is food.
Why is food so important to me? Well my life revolves around food. It has always been a crucial part in my life and not just because it provides energy. I have constantly been surround by food my whole life and have had my own struggles with it too (and not just cooking haha).
My parents owned a fruit and veggie shop, can’t get more physically surround by food then playing amongst crates of pumpkins and cabbages. My family sat down for dinner together every night, it wasn’t all cliche happy families sitting around a table discussing the events of the day. It actually usually went along the lines of me sitting for hours at the table after everyone had finished refusing to eat my vegetables. I was a stubborn child and if you pushed me to eat anything I’d just dig my toes in, hence why I haven’t really eaten fruit since I was two. It’s not that I wasn’t hungry or was spoilt or anything like that it was purely that the texture of fruit makes me gag, I’m not a fan of the sweetness either but maybe me not eat it is why I still have not had a cavity to this day.
My struggles with food didn’t just stop with stubbornness but I’d always been underweight not because I didn’t eat, I ate massive amounts just not what my parents wanted me to eat. To be honest I should to this day be extremely obese, having a fast metabolism isn’t all roses though. On my 17th birthday I had blood tests done, I’d been passing out on a daily basis and my memory was completely shot. I’d been trying to eat healthier, I’d cut back on carbs and was eating more vegetables and less crap really. When I got the results my doctor asked if I felt ok, that is never a good sign, my Blood Sugar Levels were .2units off me being brain dead. I should have been in a coma, somehow I was still functioning walking around etc. They tested me for diabetes my insulin levels were fine. I weighed 51kg and was 181cm tall, I was doing Latin ballroom dancing once a week and loved it but other than that I wasn’t crazy about fitness. So they never really figured out why my body does this but I got put on a diet of high carbs, so pasta, pizza and pies. I didn’t complain.
In 2012 (age 22) I started seeing a dietitian to learn how to stabilize my blood sugar levels throughout the day and gain weight. I got discharged and deemed capable of regulating my own dietary intakes in 2014.
There is more to food than just nutrition though, to me with food comes family. The social aspect of eating and spending time with loved ones is just as important as nutrition. Whenever my family gets together we can expect good food, lots of laughs and to return home with a boot load of leftovers that last a week. Food brings people together. When greeting new neighbours we generally break the ice with food because well everyone needs it. We celebrate with food, we mourn with food.
Our lives whether homesteading or not is all about food. The difference is when homesteading, the focus on food is fresh, wholesome and free from preservatives and packaging. We know the process each meal has taken to get to our plate because we have been there every step of the way.
Convenience isn’t always great, it lacks some sort of wholesome quality to it. The type you get when sitting at your family dinner table eating the meals your mother has prepared you, your entire life.
