Whole Foods

Back in 1980 (ish) When I was about 20 years old, whole foods were both in fashion and at the same time thought of as cranky

Basically it was mostly about wheat and specifically bread.  People were beginning to realise that white bread is really not good for you.  The lack of fibre (or roughage as we used to call it) could cause constipation and (hush hush) haemorrhoids.

Pulses, usually in their raw dried form were also a big part of the whole food revolution - and took forever to soak and cook.  The soya bean in all its frugalness was king.

Whole food and health food shops popped up all over the place.

Alternative restaurants were also putting in an appearance, usually wholefood and vegetarian,  selling delicious food that many people had never tried before.  Not surprisingly, many people including myself often confused vegetarian food with whole food because the two were often linked.

Whole Foods and Vegetarianism

Which brings me to a story of a young man at that time who I met in passing.  Actually it was he who was passing.  He was from Saskatoon in Canada (which has no relevance whatsoever) on his way around the world back packing and trying to find his inner something or other.  Somewhere along the way of his life he had learned to be vegetarian and we were sitting eating in one of these restaurants and I asked him a question.  "Why does whole food have to be vegetarian?" ( because at the time no omnivorous restaurants prepared wholefoods)  "Why" I asked him "can't it be possible to have a wholefood  meal with beef in it?"  His answer was that no-one could possibly eat a whole cow.  I didn't know how to answer this. Although now being (a lot) older I would immediately reply with something like "Well I couldn't eat a whole melon either" or "How could you possibly eat a whole stem of corn, husk and  straw included?"  or "Could you eat a nut with its shell?  or a whole pumpkin?"

So besides all this whether you are vegan, vegetarian, omnivore or om-nom-nom-nivore it seems to make sense that it is best to eat our food as it is meant to be, with nothing taken away and nothing added.  This is whole food and this is real food. 

It is a difficult rule to stick to for many reasons.  It isn't easy in our day to eat the way nature intended, but we can at least take steps in that direction, and if you are really struggling and can never seem to keep to a healthy diet for very long, maybe you are stuck in the pleasure trap and need to escape

Recipes

And if you are looking for some whole food recipes, what better place than the BBC Good Food Website

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REAL FOOD ON PINTEREST

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Please remember that the author of this website is not a professional.  All statements are opinions and not to be taken as advice.