The Food Skills Gap

As with any skill, food & health skills can be learned.

Many people today have a gap in their food skills, through no fault of their own, but rather due to an industrialized food system which is continuously inventing food products and systems to reduce the need to use our own food skills. 

Unfortunately, the food system is not primarily concerned about the health of humans nor the environment, and many people (as well as the planet) are suffering from health conditions related to these shifts in food patterns and products.

By learning, exploring or re-discovering food skills, we can develop more agency over how we eat, which benefits our own health, that of our family and community, as well as the planet. 

What are Health Skills?

Health skills are practices like regulating the nervous system (my preferred term for “stress management”), tuning in to the body, social connections, emotional and physical self-care, physical exercise/movement, sleep habits, and creative or spiritual pursuits. These aspects of health are regularly undervalued in the Western medical paradigm, but have been core pillars of health alongside food for ages in traditional healing systems.

A place to start

If you’re interested in growing health and/or food skills, but are not sure where to start, I suggest this:

Find 15-20 minutes and a quiet space, a journal or piece of paper and pen. Take a few slow breaths. Start writing whatever is on your mind. No edits needed. See what comes up for you. Notice what areas get your attention, or if you have always been meaning to do something for your own health but …

There are no right or wrong ways to start growing Health Skills. Small changes add up and can have a great impact. Check out some of the Journal entries to learn more, or find some ideas for action steps to take. And don’t go it alone. Health and healing are not solo ventures, but actually do happen best - at a physiologic level - in a supportive community.