food philosophy

welcome to the sublime tomato! i’m raina and i’ll be introducing myself a little bit in each post.  you can also read more about the blog in the about section. i’ll be posting regularly, but expect changes and updates to the site to come a little slowly at least until graduation in december.  today i’ll be talking about why food is so important to me. i’d love to hear your comments. thanks for reading!

i really do love tomatoes

I can’t think of very many things that are more important to your health than the food you put into your body. Most of us are fortunate enough to choose what we eat and with that choice comes a lot of responsibility. This means paying attention to where your food comes from, reading nutrition sources you trust and taking the time to know what you are putting into your body. I call this food philosophy. You don’t need to be an expert to have food values and there is no right or wrong about what you decide to eat, it’s your body. My food philosophy is ever changing, but I’d like to share a few food values that are always pretty solid in my life.

Veggie-centric: Veggies and fruits take the leading role in my meals. They’re important to me because they make my body so happy. Produce is super nutrient dense, meaning you get tons of the good stuff like vitamins, minerals and fiber in each bite. I also try to eat as many types of veggies and fruits as possible to get a wider variety of nutrients. Also, being veggie-centric most of the time is a form of health insurance for those days when produce isn’t the focus of your meals.
Local: There are tons of reasons to eat local and again, health is my major motivation. Local foods are healthier. The farther your food travels, the more opportunity there is for nutrients to be damaged due to temperature and time. Eating local also supports farms in your community which is much more desirable than giving money to huge companies thousands of miles away. I incorporate local foods into my diet by buying most of my veggies and animal products at nearby farmers’ markets. Community Supported Agriculture organizations (CSAs) are a great option for people who don’t have time to go to shopping at the market each week. They will deliver a box of produce and/or meat to a drop-off location for you to pick up each week.
Organic: I choose organic foods when I can to avoid chemicals and pesticides in conventionally farmed products. We are exposed to tons of chemicals and toxins in our environment every day, so minimizing ones in our food is important. Organic foods can be more expensive, but I like to remind myself of the investment I’m putting in my health and the savings in future health care costs. When organic is just too expensive, I focus on the foods that are most chemical laden like those in the dirty dozen.
Real: One rule I live by is the fewer ingredients the better. Packaged and processed foods usually have long lists of hard to pronounce ingredients that are harmful to our bodies. Learning how to cook simple meals in big batches (leftovers!) has been the most helpful to real-ify my meals. Often making your food from scratch doesn’t take longer than waiting for takeout or heating up a frozen dinner.
Realistic: Sometimes organic is too expensive and other times I just really want to use tomatoes in January, so local isn’t an option. During exams or busy weeks, ice cream and frozen pizza just happens to find their way into our house. On these occasions, I just give myself a break and enjoy my food!

real food in my kitchen

We’re constantly being bombarded with nutrition information so it’s even more important that we all have places we can trust. Here are some sources I trust that have helped me form my food philosophy and provide useful info, tips and recipes.
Websites:
World’s Healthiest Foods: http://www.whfoods.com/
Harvard School of Public Health Nutrition Source: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/
Blogs:
Kris Carr: http://kriscarr.com/
100 Days of Real Food: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/
Books:
The Third Plate by Dan Barber
All of Michael Pollan’s books

I’d love to hear about your food philosophy. What do you think about when making your food choices?