Real Food

One of the things that is near and dear to my heart is food. I love to eat it, I love to cook it, and I love to read and learn about it. And along the way of that particular journey I have come to truly appreciate the importance of real food.

"and who gives food to every creature..." Psalms 136:25

And just what exactly is real food ?

It is food prepared and eaten the way the good Lord intended.

It is food as close to it's natural form as possible.

It is the food you usually find on the outer perimeter of the supermarket.

Or perhaps at your local Farmer's Market.

Or maybe even your own backyard garden.

It is food you cook from scratch.

It is food with it's own natural color.

It is food that usually comes in it's own natural packaging.

It is food that has it's own natural flavoring.

It has no artificial flavorings or colors.

What is it not?

In my ever to be so humble opinion, real food is not the food of health fanatics. It is the food of real people. It is not sticks and twigs or soy this or that. It is the food our Grandmothers cooked before there was a fast food restaurant on every corner and an explosion of processed foods in every grocery store. It is not low fat, or low carb. It is not vegan or vegetarian. It is the foods we ate before there was an explosion of weight gain, diabetes, and heart disease. And it is food, not whole food supplements, but real food.

It is food the way it used to be eaten!

As we've gotten busier and busier we've grown further and further away from real foods. We've fallen into habits of grabbing pre-packaged, pre-prepared snacks and meals. Foods with artificial colorings and flavorings. Foods whose sugar, fat, and salt content are out of our control. And when eating this way we lose touch with what we are eating and how much of it we are eating. And we no longer savor our meals. God gave us food to nourish and replenish us and that's not possible with the overly processed stuff we've come to call food.

"So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun."~ Ecclesiastes 8:15-16

In an ideal world we would prepare our own food from fresh, natural ingredients and we would take the time to eat it and to enjoy it. We would not be rushing around stuffing it into our faces. We really need to come to a place between was is and what should be. A place that feeds our bodies and our souls and that fits into modern day life.