By Kate Barnes
2 reasons we’re losing the he(art) of our food.
It’s no coincidence the word art forms the word ’heart’.
Art: the expression of creativity and imagination… It’s about producing works to be appreciated for their beauty or emotional power.
Heart symbolises love. It is known as the seat of emotions; the heart is synonymous with affection. And art has the power to ignite these heartfelt emotions. Heart, love and food.
The preparation of home-made food then is artistic. When we are creating recipes from beautiful raw ingredients, creating delicious, appetising food, nourishing loved ones, we evoke feelings (emotions) of warmth, happiness and love.
When we feel deeply, we create life long memories that we can revisit in an instant, evoking those same loving memories. It touches our heart.
Firstly. There’s something about Lamb Chops!
My most favourite foodie memory is returning home to our family farm from boarding school. We’d often get home around 6 – 7pm, just in time for dinner and be hopeful or having put in our order, for Mum’s home-made, crumbed lamb chops! For all 3 of us kids, it was our favourite family meal. A recipe handed down from my grandmother to my mum. Lamb chops made everything feel right again. We’d eat it together, sharing our stories of school, what had been happening on the farm, the world and catching up after spending time away from each other.
And I fondly remember after travelling overseas for a year, it was the first home cooked meal that mum made for me.
I felt happy. I felt loved. I felt home.
But food does that doesn’t it.
Food has the power to bring us together. It’s the vehicle for sparking engaging (emotive) conversation, appreciation and love for the time and energy spent preparing and creating it. There’s reward in giving and receiving equally. It evokes feelings and life long memories. And although Mum’s crumbed lamb chops may not have been especially ’beautiful’, they certainly had emotional power i.e. it touched my he(art).
However, the simple act of preparing food at home with our families is one of the most important acts we can perform, (even if you think you can’t cook, give it go, it’s so worth it).
In our homes, while preparing and creating food, we powerfully create;
- engaging interactions and an emotional presence for your children, something they crave, especially when you’re busy.
- knowledge of different vegetables, fruit, herbs etc and their nourishing, medicinal properties.
- fun stimulating the senses i.e. tasting, smelling, seeing and touching.
- life long memories.
- connection with the rhythms and cycles of nature and our own biology. Something we are becoming further and further removed from and is critical for us to thrive.
- and much more.
Re-discovering the he(art) of food and our children’s health
When our lives are so full it can feel difficult to dedicate the time to prepare a home-cooked meal.
There are two issues at play that have helped create a new, societal norm. However, it’s to the detriment of our families, especially our children.
