Food Identity

Every day, we have to eat food. It’s essential to our bodily functioning. What we put into our bodies, is another thing altogether. Why we put what we do is another thing too. But, all this is wrapped up in our food identities. Like any identity – it’s shaped by many influences that we have encountered throughout our lives.

I can trace a lot of my food identity back to my parents. They love food and are passionate about it. I grew up in a household where food was a frequent topic; whether it be as simple as what we had for lunch that day to a new recipe one of my parents wanted to try.

The second great influence on my food identity is my American childhood. Living in another country opens up a whole other food world. Both England and America have cake, for instance, yet the atlantic ocean creates a great divide. I always remember my grandmother’s ‘Luscious Lemon Cake’ (as we called it). Whenever we hopped across the pond to visit her this very decadent English cake would be sitting on the table awaiting us. No amount of jet lag could deter us from eating grandmother’s baking. Yet, cake in the states was taken with what I would call a ‘supersize’ attitude – the flavours are powerful and the cakes are big. A dainty lemon cake just would not suffice, with its subtle flavours and miniature size. In America, cake meant three layer sickening chocolate cakes or using inventive ingredients such as carrot in a cake. I’m not complaining, but there is a big difference in how this simple word was depicted in each country.

Food and our relationship with food is carried with us for the whole of our lives. A bad cheesecake can put us off ever eating cheesecake again. Over time our food identities will shift and change. But, food will always be a constant throughout our lives. It’s there every day, rain or shine, three times a day.

It can sometimes be overlooked just how much our food identities impacts our health and wellbeing. In my holistic approach to Nutrition I think it’s really important to consider this angle as well.

If you’re looking for an appointment with a Nutritionist or to delve deeper into your relationship with food, then drop me an email or give me a call on 07957511441.