When I was in nursing school, I was taught that every good nurse develops and holds on to a philosophy, which she then uses to guide her care. Those with strong awareness of their personal philosophy pay more attention to their patients, give better, more individualized care, and have better outcomes in their patients’ healing and long term recovery. The same principle can be applied to any profession, but in something like the food industry, it is especially crucial for every cook/chef to be aware of their food philosophy. Food without life and purpose infused into it is not nourishing nor healing, it is simply something to fill your belly with.

At Wholly Nourished Home, we care deeply about the food that goes into your body. Whole food that comes from a natural setting and is sustainably grown, harvested, and processed is alive with the life force of the plants/animals that carried it. The earth itself puts out more life when it is treated with respect and given the opportunity to regenerate itself after busy seasons of growth and productivity. Our bodies too, deserve no less. We as humans, especially women, go through seasons of tremendous energy output followed by a deep need for rest and replenishing. This is where we at Wholly Nourished come in to help.

Nutrition is a holistic concept. It goes against restrictive dieting, focusing on every available food group, how our bodies react to different food in different seasons, and learning the art of food preparation passed down from the ancestral traditions of the past generations. Think fermentation, pickling, foraging, curing, hunting/gathering, working with wild yeasts and fungi and herbs and eating that which is in season. How much of that wisdom have we lost to convenient “fast” food? How much of it would you like to regain for yourself should you find the modern commercial food supply faltering?

What about popular diets and people’s success stories with them? I would never ask you chronically cut out an entire food group like carbs or fats and just “learn to live without.” These foods carry great nutritional value in combination with other food groups and if sourced in the proper way they could even trigger healing in your body! We learn to listen to our bodies first, and give them the opportunity to taste the full spectrum of the various food groups in healthy moderation. There may be seasons to cut back on gluten, sugar, dairy and I can work with you on creating customized meal plans for those seasons but ultimately the goal is to heal you body so that it can receive all foods and use them as nourishment. The only things we generally avoid is over-processed, lab produced, artificial food that was never in nature to begin with. Even some foods that would naturally be considered good and wholesome that have been stripped of all their nutrients and re-fortified with artificial vitamins and minerals should probably be left on the store shelf in favor of what’s available at your local farms.

When you know where your food comes from and you work it with your own hands, you will soon find that your body responds much better to that homegrown, homemade goodness. I do not limit my grain intake when I mill my own ancient grains and take in all of their nutritional value in its pure form. I do not limit the intake of raw fruits and dairy if that is what my body craves. I will enjoy the natural sweetness of honey, maple, agave, coconut, dates, etc and not have to limit my “sweets” when refined sugar and artificial sweeteners are taken out of the equation. I will not give up animal proteins and fats when those animals worked so hard to convert plant energy into a highly nutrient dense form of food and farmers worked tirelessly to keep that life force going until it was time to pass it on to us.

You can also form your own food philosophy, and it might look different from the above. I can respect that, as long as your philosophy comes from a place of knowledge and not fear, of an understanding and love for your body and not rejection and disgust of it. I want to help you heal and thrive and then give you the confidence to give the same to your family, through the work of your own hands. Wholly Nourished Home does not exist to put out generic frozen meals for those who do not feel they have time or the ability for cooking. We will support you in your hard seasons and then teach you to make meals that are easy, nourishing, and infused with love. Because all of us were created with a need to eat, and all of us can take turns providing for that need. We believe in you ❤️