Healthy Food, Healthy People, Healthy Planet!

Can we find the steps that take us to a food system that supports ourselves & nature?

By Helen Fisher

I really enjoy the idea that food could be the answer to so many of our problems.

Although it does seem a little scary each time I re-realise just how challenging it can be to find simple, healthy food today.

We’ve become over focused on the idea of calories as fuel, and neglectful of real nutrition.
The variety of micro-nutrients that our bodies need to build, repair and thrive has been replaced with stimulation from over processed chemicals which drag us through the day and move us to the habit of frequently grabbing food for a quick kick.
So much so that we seem to have made an enemy out of those calories as well.

It intrigues me that as a society we’re becoming ever more intolerant to the foods we eat as they become ever less natural, more processed and less diverse.

When you walk around a shop with this in mind you notice that though it looks like there’s a huge variety, it’s all the same few things just dressed up a little differently.
Shelf space is generously offered to breads, pasta, cereals, biscuits, cakes…
And when it comes to fruit and veg there are more aisles offering it up in some manner that’s loaded with over processed sugars, salts, and chemicals, than to simple fresh produce that our bodies can recognise.

But going back to where I started with this; it really does excite me that good food could be the answer to so many things.

Everything from our health, to the health of eco-systems and the health of the planet as a whole can all be connected to the food that we find on our shelves.

Producing good food means having to take better care of the land.

And both of these are very good news for our bodies.
I feel passionately that we all deserve access to healthy food and healthy environments.

The connection between ourselves and nature is so intertwined and yet has become so severely overlooked.

Moving towards healing one will also help to heal the other.

Holding A Vision For A Healthy Food System Seems A Very Long Way From Where We Are.

And the thing with how bad things seem to have become right now; reaching a limit might be the only thing that will push enough of us to rethink what our societies have been doing poorly but sticking by for such a long time.

There’s been several insights on the podcast that give us hope that the growth of our food can become much healthier in the future. Due to the growing motivations for food production to shift towards regenerative practices:

Regenerative Agriculture…

• Can reverse desertification & ensure that we can continue to produce food for a growing population – Listen to the discussion with Finian Makepeace HERE
• Can offer more resilience and stability in the long term pricing of our food – Listen to Caroline Grindrod HERE [jump straight to 00.56.34]
• Can provide food that contains greater nutrition – Listen to Colin Andrews HERE [jump to 16:45 & 54.00]
• Can avoid the damage to our health that the chemicals within industrial agriculture cause – Listen to Dr Christo Miliotis HERE

At this moment when prices rises across the board are already choking us, it’s hard to imagine a time when our food supply can offer high quality and healthy food conveniently – we have such a long way to go.

But it’s certainly a dream that’s important enough to reach for.

It would mean reconsidering the entire food system rather than just the land practices though, which is a discussion I go into in detail with Michelle Gilman here.

Seeing food as a chunk of the solution to our climate and biodiversity crises means that we can all very much be part of it.
And it becomes a solution that we each directly benefit from too.
Becoming engaged with how food is grown, how it’s processed, how far it’s travelled etc. These are all ways for us to learn how to nurture our own bodies and create greater resilience for our own health.

And seeing ourselves as part of the solution really doesn’t need to stop at food!

If you’re eager to learn more about how each of us as individuals, business owners or community members can take steps towards building economies that are regenerative for people and planet then check out the networking event that I’m starting on 7th September.

Would you like to join us for a 6 week cohort experience as we explore how we might rapidly integrate regeneration into the day to day actions through our societies?

There’ll be 24 / 7 access to the network along with a series of presentations and group workshops.

You can find more details here & sign up here.

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