Some of my friends are recently gaining a lot of interest in the way food is produced, the effects of modern western diet, and subsequently making some significant changes to the way they eat. I think it is a positive sign that people are getting more aware of their food choices. Personally, I have gone through a similar phase and thus made my own conscious decision on how and what I want to eat. What is most curious to me is although my friends and I share similar knowledge on the negative effects our old eating habits, our new choices cannot be more different.
I've never been much of a meat-eater myself. As my diet evolved, I'm inspired by people sharing similar food preferences as myself. 101 Cookbooks and Ottolenghi have been constant sources of ideas and encourage me to branch out to unfamiliar flavours and ingredients. Joining the Kawartha Ecological Growers CSA is another turning point. Getting farm fresh produce on a regular basis opened my eyes to the wonderful ways food ought to taste. I am thrilled to prepare flavourful meals with plenty of fresh vegetable, beans, pulses, eggs, dairy, whole grains, herbs, and spices. I don't go out of my way to avoid meat but the truth is I'm just more excited about the non-meat choices. Whole food, unrefined carbs, locavore, flexitarian...those buzzwords are cliches yet they do describe pretty accurately of the way I eat.
On the other end of the spectrum, my friends have chosen a diet heavy on fats and proteins from naturally raised animals. The usual suspects for "superfood" such as goji berries, coconut milk, seal oil capsules are often mentioned in conversations. Our food choices are complete opposites yet they do share one significant trait: shunning processed food in favour for whole foods farmed/raised/produced the traditional way. Personally, I don't think one is better than the other. I believe both diets are beneficial to the body. It comes down to a personal tastes. I cannot bring myself to eat (nor cook) meat, meat, and more meat. I truly enjoy all the varied choices nature provides.
Our differences often bring about interesting and at times heated discussion. I keep a food log religiously so I can keep track of my caloric, micro-, and macro-nutrient intake. I know that due to the amount of exercises I do, my appetite can easily get out of control and so can my body weight. One of the side benefits of all the fruit and vegetable I eat is that they are nutritionally dense yet low in calories. My stomach gets the sense of satisfaction it craves from the bulk (aka fibre). I get tsk tsk from my friends often about all these carbs that I eat. At the same time, I roll my eyes at them for their daily mid-day coconut milk smoothie. That's at least 500cal in that "snack", a quarter of daily caloric need for a not very active adult male. My vegetarian-leaning ways draw comments like the human body is not intended to function optimally on such diets, along with offers to lend me books and research papers that back up their side of argument. Sometimes, we just have to agree to disagree.
And then there's my boyfriend B who also has a demanding training regimen. He did his share of reading too and has developed his own eating habit for what he believes is best for him (as an aside, isn't this what we're all trying to do? Doing what we believe is best for us?). The first time I visited, I was astonished at the endless bottles of pills and supplements and protein powder all wash down with raw milk. Well, at least the raw milk is really really good. I wouldn't be caught dead putting any of those other things in my mouth. He supplements this with apples, farm-fresh eggs, and the occasional grass-fed beef pattie. As he doesn't cook nor like vegetable, his diet works for his lifestyle. Suffice to say, my first and mandatory stop whenever I visit is the farmer's market! It's a good thing that the DC area is abundant with farm-fresh goodies from neighbouring Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. The running joke between B and I is that he must like me a lot for eating all the vegetable dishes I cook. That's right, I fed him kale on Valentine's Day and swiss chard on his birthday.
I think the food we choose to eat is a very personal issue and we easily get defensive about it. For anyone who is mindful of the way he eats, food choices truly reflects an important part of his life. I choose to eat the way I eat because I believe that it is good for me and/or I find joy from the food. I think it is rare that given the choice, a person would choose to eat things that they neither enjoy nor believe it's good for them day in and day out. This conscious decision is what makes food choices such a personal one.
