Whilst clearing my cookbooks, some odd scraps of paper slip out. It was dated over 12 years ago with written measurements and timing for baby feeds. The well thumbed pages reminded me how I was learning to be a mother and learning to feed the baby at the same time. I remember the joy of watching my little baby and how much he loved apple sauce made from blitzed steamed apples. A colicky baby, Sarvesh’s road to solids was an eagerly anticipated event for we were told that solids would help him feel better.
As if on cue, he rewarded me with a hearty appetite and grew bouncy almost overnight. As his appetite increased, so did my understanding of food. So much of the food that we eat and consume is processed beyond belief — it’s too salty, too bleached, too sugary, too chemically laced to last for months on end. I had to learn to taste again and really try to understand food. Where did it come from? Was it fresh and clean? How much chemicals were used in the production? How is this affecting quality and nutrition?
Sarvesh is nearly 13 and I am still questioning and learning. What I do know is that good food binds us, our families and cultures. We share recipes for the next generation. We are custodians and enable our children to understand who they are. What can we do to clean up the current mess? The food system is a sum of parts with moving goal posts.
