Meeting Notes - July 14th, 2008

TOPIC: Participants’ Personal Response to Food as Medicine

1. Wheat is a relative newcomer to European grains compared to rye, oats and barley; goal of eating less wheat and more traditional grains; developing relationships with farmers, buying grass-fed beef
2. Produce boxes – the joy of seasonal produce coupled with the joy of communal purchasing (families go in on buying the boxes); teaches you about what’s in season when, if you have an excess of food it forces you to figure out ways to share with others; links you with the farmer
3. Idea of connecting to Minnesota land, even if (or especially if) it’s your adopted home; we are isolated from our land; idea to invite different African elders to talk about traditional food – they are isolated and an opportunity to pass along their knowledge would be mutually beneficial
4. Have memories of buying a quarter of beef and sharing it among relatives; family gardening and sharing the vegetables; memories of traditional Norwegian fruit soup, made from dried fruit mixed with corn starch and sugar – served hot in the winter
5. More observant now about picking food and personal food habits, food as medicine, talking to people about food – more aware; met women with gardens who get together to exchange vegetables
6. Have been thinking about maintaining health through food, the ways that people knew to maintain bodily ph, help digestion, guard against colds, etc.; thought about the British preoccupation with bowel health and how that is a notion of balance; thinking about when you eat being equally important to health – we tend to eat larger meals as the day goes on, instead of starting with a large breakfast
7. Have been remembering some traditional health maintenance foods in Polish cuisine – fermented cabbage and other vegetables, the tradition of eating “surowka” with every hot meal, which loosely translates to “rawness” – this ties in to the belief that something raw helps digest cooked foods; fruit compote as a traditional way to end a meal, even in the economically difficult times under Communism

Other notions/ideas:

- most cultures have traditions of periodic/seasonal cleansing and fasting; tied to spiritual beliefs about renewal and restoring balance

- soup as a healthy food that is consumed every day in many cultures

- Breakfast – we KNOW it’s important, no on really thinks breakfast doesn’t make a difference in how you feel and function – so WHY don’t we eat it, or place more emphasis on eating it?

- Ideas for future discussions – have mini-groups to discuss different ailments and how they are related to diet – insomnia, low energy, GI trouble, high cholesterol, etc.