What is food freedom and true nourishment?

This is the blueberry applesauce in my Tot’s e-cookbook. It’s just cute, that’s all 😉

Someone asked me two incredibly important questions this week around food & nourishment:

How do I define true nourishment and how do I define food freedom?

It took me many years to find these answers personally, and I cycled through so many camps and diets along the way, so even in this current answer I want to communicate grace around it!

So today I want to share my heart with you on what food freedom is, what true nourishment is, and of course, what food freedom is not!

What does true nourishment look like, for me? 

For me today, true nourishment is about this beautiful combination of honoring what humans have been eating throughout history in a way that feels supportive, enjoyable, accessible, and not restrictive. 

And while I have my own definition and standards for what I eat, nourishment is also about gathering, tradition, and culture. It's about connectedness, community, and togetherness.

(Which is why I love what I do SO much - it's not just a meal, our food can highly influence the very culture of our family and home!)

So yes, nourishment is about so much more that just food, but I’ll focus on the food bit for a bit! 😊

Being able to eat seasonally, locally as much as possible, and honor food in the context it’s found in nature is such a gift.

What do I mean by “context in nature”?

Think about how difficult or easy it is to access certain foods - grains, for example, have grown in abundance for all of human history. They are unfortunately grown much less pure in our modern age, but this is a crop that offers a lot of yield typically.

Nuts and seeds on the other hand, are beautifully nutritious foods but also take a lot of effort to gain a small portion - cracking the nut takes a lot of work for a little bit of meat, so I like to enjoy them in that context, not as a base for recipes!

Ultimately, nourishment in my opinion, needs to feel sustainable, accessible, and attainable.

(I know I sound like a Baptist preacher a bit.)

That’s why real, whole foods that we also enjoy are so important!

(a collection of drool-worthy nutrient-dense recipes from my Tots cookbook!)

How do I define food freedom?

Food freedom is about stepping away from diet camps that demonize whole foods and feeling peace with pursuing nourishment OVER pursuing an image or body type. 

But I do always want to be clear that food freedom, to me, is not a “free for all” in the same sense that putting a toddler in a room with your Aunt Carol's glass breakables wouldn't give them a feeling of freedom and empowerment. (hang with me for a sec).

But if I put a 2-year-old in a baby safe room where they're able to roam and explore without consequence or harm, that feels like freedom.

It’s also the same way that freedom in Christ is not about doing whatever we want and “getting away” with it - just like being conformed to Christ’s likeness makes us rejoice in his statues and words, food freedom gives us the ability to rejoice over real whole food as our typical pursuit.

In the same way, I find such freedom in feeling no fear around any food that is REAL.

But that doesn't mean I want unhindered and maybe even unhinged access to all the processed food in a store.

Freedom is about knowing the consequences on the table, just as much as experiencing benefits!

And while within the boundaries of food freedom, I do not consume hyper-processed foods regularly, I also have the grace that if I want to have a date night with my husband at a restaurant where I can’t control every ingredient, that is absolutely okay.

What about Intuitive Eating?

This is another realm where I want to be careful with the definition and also LOVE the concept.

My husband and I have a running joke where he grabs something like take-out pizza and trolls me by saying, “It sounded good, I’m intuitive eating!!” 😂

Well….yes and no, sweetie 😂

I think our cravings have a lot of meaning. I fully believe God designed our bodies in a brilliant way to let us know what it is that we need in terms of nourishment. I find my own cravings and lab testing align every single time, without fail!

For example, maybe I’ve been craving chocolate and my magnesium shows up low, or maybe I’m craving blueberries and find I need antioxidant support. It truly matches up EVERY time.

(Which can give us a lot of peace when it comes to the battle of “over-testing” verses listening to our bodies - they do speak to us!)

But again, just as with the food freedom argument, we don’t want to unwisely approach a “good” thing - intuitive eating is also not about a free for all where we shovel candy because it *sounded good* 😉

We have to become investigators a bit and dig - do I need more quality carbohydrates? Do I need more nourishing food in general? Is there a nutrient that I’m needing more of?

If you’re willing to sift a bit, you can usually find a supportive answer that can also help remove the shame so often found around cravings!

I bet you’re curious - why does my husband always want pizza? (yours, mine, everyone’s…) - the best of the best pizza version would be a nice little package of potassium, quality fats, good sodium, and carbohydrates! Think sourdough crust, organic marinara, organic hand shredded mozzarella…YUM.

That's all for today, friend - I hope this helps in your own process of figuring out what food, freedom, & nourishment looks like for you!

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