We are what we nourish

As soon as we can learn we start learning about food but more often than not we are taught what not to eat and why. Both Adam & I had that in our childhoods but for very different reasons. Adam grew up with a lot of food sensitivities which fortunately he grew out of and I grew up fearing food since my parents were compulsive dieters.

Somewhere along the way Adam was able to form a healthy relationship with his body and the food he put in it. Somewhere he learned the magic of food as health and learned the skill of listening to his body. This is something he has taught me since day one back in 2010 and it has transformed so much of my life.

Since that time a lot has started to shift in society and people are becoming more and more food conscious. At first, this was such an exciting time on the farm. Knowing that we were going to get to play a part in helping empower people in health. We are so excited to share any new information we gathered on the veggies and herbs we grew. This is what often excited us to try something new and we wanted our customers to be excited too!

This past year (2017) I hit a wall. There was SO much information flying at me I began to have that feeling of fear again. I began thinking about food as an enemy. I began losing touch with my body. I felt as though if I was feeling this surely our customers must be experiencing the same thing. So I made the choice to hold back more on these bits of information and just let the food be what the food is.

Then I bought this AMAZING cookbook "Recipes From The Herbalist Kitchen" by Brittany Wood Nickerson. Never had a read such a poetic cookbook. I'll be honest it made me cry a few time. Not because I was sad but just because it was so true. Having a healthy view on eating is so crucial. Just as important as what we eat. In her book she says "Food is only as nourishing as our body's ability to digest it" Our ability to digest is so connected to our minds that if we are sitting down eating a plain piece of kale and hating every bite of it - how much nutrition will we really be able to get from that?

Then it hit me! I need to be sharing all this wonderful information but it's how and when you share it. This is where my old pal Socrates comes into play with his test of three. Is it true information, good information and useful information? So much of what we are fed is often times no useful but shameful. No one should EVER feel shame about what they put into their bodies. Food is sacred. It the closest thing to religion we all share. It not only unites our body, mind and soul but it unities people from all over the world. It is as woven to our own identities as it is to the identities of those around us.

This has inspired us to empower YOU all to be fearless and proud eaters of nourishment. Through this nourishment you will help your body support your health and it will be delicious!

How will we do this? Mostly through our CSA, with tidbits going out on Facebook and at the market. (but of course we are an open resource so feel free to email us whenever you need help or inspiration with your nourishment) We have been creating information sheets for ALL our veggies, herbs and fruit. These sheets will share with you ways to store, process, and cook your food. It will also include useful information on ways this particular nourishment can help you support your health.

We really want to be part of creating a nurturing food system from the land, to the farmers, to you! <3

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Below I have shared a piece written on Brittany Wood Nickerson website Thyme Herbal and a podcast she was on. Have a read and listen on food empowerment! 
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On Health and Healing - By Brittany Wood Nickerson
"I often notice that people take interest in their health out of fear.  Time and time again I see people who are suddenly  (or not so suddenly)  overcome by the need to “take care of themselves”– perhaps because they don’t have health insurance, or find themselves with high blood pressure or high cholesterol; perhaps because they wish to strike preemptively against the heart disease, alcoholism or breast cancer that runs in their family.  Many of these people would in fact do well to take care of themselves, and their health may very well depend on it.  However, these individuals will heal not only because of specific diet changes, or the addition of healthful herbs, but because of new relationships to their own self-care and an embraced sense of empowerment. One of the first steps toward this type of change is to embody a life-giving, positive, nurturing attitude toward ourselves and the world.  No amount of vitamins, minerals or green leafy vegetables can nourish or heal the person who lives in a state of negativity, fear, frustration or anger.  When we move away from fear-based ideas about our health — ideas of “right” and “wrong,” “should” and “shouldn’t” — we can see that health is not black and white.  We can see that, actually, health is quite complex, part of a vast web of relationships to self, lifestyle, family, community and the patterns of the earth.  This process can prove a challenging one, so amidst the challenges it is important to hold compassion for ourselves and for our process of change and self-growth.
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Health, and what makes us healthy, is as diverse as our preferences in art, film or music.  It sometimes feels easy to forget that being healthy is just that: a state of being, a subjective and personal state for each of us.  With this recognition comes the awareness that what is healthy for us will be healthy and healing for us in every aspect of our lives, and that those same acts of nourishment will build not only our health, but the health of our communities and the health of the earth.  Health is an embedded process, and to be healthy requires a connection — for many a re-connection — with our own bodies’ processes, and with natural processes outside of us.  I believe that we all possess the inherent wisdom to heal ourselves by getting to know our own rhythms, embedded as they are in the larger picture of our lives and the patterns of the earth.
People are taught to disconnect from their bodies in our culture, and to latch onto the prescribed wisdom of people they think know better than them — authority figures of all kinds.  As an herbalist and healer I see myself empowering rather than ordering the people I see, because I want to help people cultivate their own skills and connect with their own intuitive wisdom.  This view of health operates outside the paradigm of right answers and of “cures.”  Trusting this process requires a shift away from a scientific and objective idea of health, and toward viewing health as a subjective process.  Working together, we recognize that health can look many different ways; that a person’s healing path is unique, and their desire to heal, be well and live in balance with their body is their most powerful, important medicine."

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I wanted to speak about some personal nourishment and how it's helped me. I came across these wonderful ferments in 2016 from Seven Acres and at the time I was having difficultly with digestion mostly due to stress (this tends to be a rather natrual state for me, something I am working on. haha) What I have come to realize is that the friendship I have built with Jocelyn greatens the nourishment I get from these delicious ferments. Anytime Adam or I pull a jar from the fridge we instantly just have a feeling or warmness and goodness. 

If you have an opportunity to deepen your relationship with food - do it! Talk to the people behind the product and then take note of the first thing you grab from you fridge... :)

Your Farmers, 
Adam & Courtney