My food education began a little over two years ago. Sure, I was introduced to the food pyramid as a child, but my education really began when I welcomed it into my life.

I remember the meals I used to cook for Caleb and myself and feel nauseous. Every night we would eat some sort of meat (who knows where it came from?), a pasta or white rice, a canned vegetable and most nights I would have a small bottle of Dr. Pepper (mmm, aspartame). At this time in my life I was also really into desserts. Not artisan pies or anything fancy like that, but Little Debbie snack cakes!

In February 2016 I went through some training in the military that…made me want food a lot. I could only dream of fresh fruits and vegetables. When I finally got home from my training I started watching all of the food documentaries on Netflix. This led me to start reading labels on everything in the grocery store. My disappointment in the lists led me to opt for whole foods rather than packaged foods where I could.

As I’ve contemplated more and more what our healthy relationship with food should look like I’ve had spectacular expectations that I will one day have a farm and milk my cow and grab eggs from the chickens every day! However, when I consider the reality of my lifestyle and how it will change every two or three years I acknowledge the importance of grocery stores. They are an efficient way to get food to a lot of people who live in densely populated areas. I think that is economically amazing.

Even so, I’ve also become discouraged with grocery stores. I spend most of my money on fruits and vegetables and I can’t count how many dollars I’ve thrown into the trash because the produce I bought from a grocery store looked and smelled amazing on the outside, but was surprisingly brown or sour on the inside. Though disappointing, this isn’t crazy considering the techniques that suppliers must use to preserve their fruits in order to distribute them on a massive scale.

But I don’t want impressive economical feats on my kitchen table. I want healthy, nourishing food.

I find nourishing food at the local farmers’ market, which I am extremely grateful to have access to. I recently signed up for a Community Supported Agriculture program and for $275 per growing season, I will receive a box of local fruits and vegetables that were picked the night before. I believe that is a small price to pay for produce that won’t be secretly rotten inside of a pretty package. At my market you can also find freshly baked breads made from sprouted grains, fresh pasta, beautiful eggs which are understood to be “pasture-raised” (I listened to my farmers telling stories about how they play with their chickens), herb plants, a small plant nursery, a wide selection of fruits and vegetables, pasture-raised beef, canned foods and also some fun things like fresh bouquets and non-toxic pest control products.

When I learn something new about food and how it is processed by our bodies (vitamins, fiber, amino acids, etc.) I marvel at the artist and genius that God is. Learning more about how food works in my body has made me want the best food I can get. If you want that, too I encourage you to start weaning yourself and your family off of processed foods and to explore the options of whole foods and maybe even choosing the farmers’ market over the grocery store where you can!

It isn’t always easy. Sometimes, I do find it stressful to attempt to be intentional in a culture such as ours. So if you struggle at first, take it one thing at a time and maybe in two years you will have made as much progress as I have!

I intend to share things I have learned on this blog, so subscribe or follow me on Instagram. Hopefully, I can make your journey a little bit easier.