You are what you eat. Eating is an agricultural act. (Wendell Berry) These two philosophies neatly sum up what I believe about cooking and eating

As I listen to radio and television reports about the growing medical problems facing our population (adult onset diabetes, stroke, cardiovascular problems & high cholesterol to mention a few of the most obvious) I am struck by the thought that most of these issues are of our own making. We have surrendered control of our diets to companies that do not necessarily have a vested interest in our health. Foods are being produced that are high in sodium content, additives and unhealthy fats. Even foods that are marketed as healthy are not. (More on that later)

It is a simple matter to produce a nutritious, tasty and well balanced meal in less than 15 minutes. I was watching an ad on television the other day. The product was seared fish fillets with some manner of sauce. Bought in over packaged containers from the freezer section we are led to believe that this is faster and more convenient than preparing the dish yourself.

Let’s walk through this. Instead of zeroing in on the freezer section head for the fish counter. (Every self respecting grocery store has one) Ask the clerk what the freshest, sustainable fish is. (Sustainable is another matter we will discuss soon) Buy enough for your dinner. Now head for the produce aisle, what flavourings go with fish? Lemon, fresh dill or thyme, lime, and maybe some nice tiny potatoes. This stage of the operation took about 10 minutes.

Now off away home. First thing when you walk through the door, turn the oven on to 400 degrees. Give the potatoes a rinse and put them in a pot covered with cold water and a pinch of salt. Turn the burner on to high. Put your fish on an ovenproof tray and season with salt and pepper, some of the herbs and a squeeze of the lemon. Give it a liberal brushing of olive oil and place in the preheated oven. Give it about 10 minutes and remove from the oven.

The potatoes will be ready by now. Drain them and place on a plate with some salad greens tossed with your favourite dressing and place the salmon on the plate, drizzle any juices in the pan over the fish and serve hot. Dinner took as long as it took to cook the potatoes and you had control over every step and ingredient that you consumed.

This is an example of just one dish. I am aware that some of us are under tight time constraints with families, activities and busy social and professional lives. What I believe needs to happen is a profound change in how we think about food and eating. Food is not just fuel that gives us the energy to get through the day. Food is an integral part of our lives from the environmental and social impact of its production to the enjoyment of a meal prepared with love and care.

A simple plate of scrambled eggs and toast can say so much about someone’s approach to food and eating. Where did the eggs come from? Is the bread good healthy whole grain bread, did you just use a little butter with your eggs and leave your toast dry? These questions speak to the fundamental problems with our approach to food.

I believe I was asked to speak on this subject because I believe passionately that food prepared well from scratch could solve or slow most of the health concerns we are facing as a society. When you start to take ownership of your food you have an influence on what you are ingesting. By talking to farmers at markets and more importantly telling the of your local super market what you are looking for you can make a huge difference in the food supply chain

A good case in point is the subject of sustainable fish. We are overfishing our oceans at an alarming rate. By making wise and informed choices we can slow and take the pressure off diminishing stocks of fish. The grocery chain Loblaw’s has recognized and introduced a sustainable fish program that speaks to the issue. They made this decision because customers were asking for it. If everyone started going into the produce section and started asking where the local vegetables are sooner or later they will get it and start to provide more local choice.

Food needs to become a part of our family lives again. One of the great ways to teach your children math, chemistry, good hand eye coordination and indeed the knowledge that food comes from simple ingredients not boxes is to spend an afternoon in the kitchen with them.

I maintain that we should re introduce a form of home economics to high school students. This would entail basic cooking skills, shopping for food on a budget and nutritional menu planning. We could prevent the infamous “freshman 15” where students pack on excess because they aren’t equipped with the basic tenets of cooking and eating properly.

Packaging has become an art form with some larger food companies and we need to recognize that we are being seduced with pictures of gardens & frolicking lambs on food labels. This is easy to do because we want to believe that this may indeed be quicker and yet still healthy. Once you read the labels on a lot of these products you will come to realise it just another form of green washing.

To sum up I do understand we all have busy lives, however if we take back even half of our food production from others than we will all be eating in a fashion that supports a more healthy lifestyle and we will eliminate a number of the problems facing us as we age.(gracefully of course)

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Bruce Wood is chef/owner of Bruce’s Kitchen in Ganges on beautiful Salt Spring Island, BC. Bruce believes that eating a diet of locally sourced, minimally processed foods is the key to good health. This article was initially published by theConference.ca.