Welcome to WeeMunch

My primary motivation behind writing this blog is to inspire parents and their kids to reconnect with their food. Part of this process is about learning where our food comes from, to have a hand in planting, growing and harvesting if possible and to be aware of what really nourishes us. I see so many children today with very finicky tastebuds, who have no idea that a carrot comes from the soil and not just the grocery store. Many of those children are not benefitting from the vitality of good, living food. That element of nourishment is rarely as measured as, say sodium...or calories.

I want to encourage you to use some of the precious time you have with your children to inspire their own nourishment. To lead by example by taking the time to show them that eating a healthy meal is important and a priority.

With this first post I'd like to share a recent experience I had with my 4 year old niece, who was rapidly becoming such a picky eater that she was pretty much only eating bread and butter, much to her mother's dismay. When they came to visit us I took the opportunity to show her my thriving snap peas I had grown in my first garden here on Bowen Island. I explained to her how I started them from seeds and how quickly they had grown. She happily helped me picked them off their vines and collect them in a special pea basket. Then, preparing for dinner, she helped to de-string the peas with as much enthusiasm as when we have made cookies together. And, lo and behold, she also enthusiastically ate them with dinner, and even had seconds! I'll never forget how that small experience was so very significant. Over time, she has come to appreciate and eat more vegetables.

And now I am pleased to have engaged my own 21-month old Oskar in our recent seasonal harvest and a similar thing happened. His previous disklike of the texture of pole beans seemed to go unnoticed as he was too intrigued at the fact he was eating his food right out of the garden that he personally had plucked from the vine.

I am seeing a strong movement occurring in North America to bring people back in connection with their food sources and it will only continue if we educate our children. If we're successful, they'll carry on the tradition to their children and so on. Only then, can we turn around the trends of the last several decades toward more packaged, highly processed and refined foods that just do not compare to the real thing. It is no wonder that food allergies are on the rise and diseases like obesity and diabetes (to only name 2) are a growing issue.

It does not really take much effort (a shift in perspective mostly). in fact it's about simplifying, taking a step back and eating predominantly whole, natural foods again - gradually but surely.

If you really want to make a difference in this world, choose to eat clean (ie: free of pesticides, antibiotics, hormones), minimally-processed and local (whenever possible) food daily. You will be making a far-reaching decision that you may not even realize affects things socially, politically, environmentally and economically.

We hope to provide you with some of the tools to make this transition easier, affordable and even fun.

We invite you into our community and encourage you to share your thoughts, feedback and personal experiences.

May you always be well-nourished.
Lisa Marie