By Shannon McKeown, MS, LDN
“To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.” ~ La Rochefoucauld
The food we eat is a multi-dimensional aspect of our lives. Food provides us the energy that enables us to grow and heal our bodies. When we choose whole foods from Mother Nature’s bounty; the earth’s soil produces a matrix of nutrients bringing health and sustenance that canned foods and other processed foods do not have.
When we eat fast foods, convenience foods, and synthetic foods like artificial sweeteners, we are eating unconsciously. Ultimately unconscious food choices will not lead you down the yellow brick road, but rather to purgatory. To understand the true significance of food and the impact it can have on our lives, we should honor food and our bodies by eating close to the earth.
If you have ever smelled the heavenly scents from fresh herbs or bitten into a sun warmed apple fleshly plucked from its tree, you are likely understand that there is a considerable difference between these foods and those that are stacked on the supermarket shelves. Food that is recently picked contains more of its original life force, which supplies greater stores of it’s’ nutrients and energy to share with the cells of our bodies.
You can ensure you are eating close to the earth and enjoying the many benefits of doing so by shopping at the many farmers markets we have here in Austin and getting to know the individual farmers who grow your food. The farmer’s benefits from selling direct to the consumer and the consumer benefits from the intimate experience of buying food from the hand of the person who
grew it.
If you are aware….you know our planet needs our help right now, but often we feel unsure about what to do, where to put our efforts, and what will really make a difference. The good news is that we can heal the planet on a daily basis simply by buying and eating food that is grown locally. Food that has been transported long distances doesn’t contain much of it’s’ life force by the time it gets to your
kitchen.
Listening to your soul’s voice to love Mother Earth is as simple as making a commitment to shop, buy, and eat locally. It is not only a very important part of creating positive change, but it can also be more healthful for your body and more delicious for your taste buds. An added bonus of buying food from your local farmers market allows you an adventure of discovering versions of fruits and vegetables like the green striped heirloom tomato, purple cauliflower, white carrots, and edible flowers that you won’t find in your local grocery store.
Eating close to the earth is an essential part of a whole food/plant based eating plan that saves your life and the planet in one fell swoop!
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Shannon has both a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in foods and nutrition. She holds a state license as a professional dietitian and nutritionist. Her life’s work as a nutrition counselor and health educator spans more than twenty years. Yet, what Shannon believes to be just as significant as her academic credentials and life’s work is her personal awakening of her God-Self fourteen years ago.
Shannon utilizes a more natural and holistic nutritional model inspired from her employment with the Seminole Tribe of Florida, where she was drawn to the stories told by the medicine man about how the Seminoles were in tune with nature as their physician. This experience re-awakened her to a very old truth by Hippocrates: “let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” Armed with this new inspiration, Shannon did extensive research during her graduate studies regarding heart disease and the many natural, therapeutic benefits of foods, such as: citrus for cholesterol management; plants like aloe vera and spices like cinnamon that improve glucose control; and super fruits that reduce inflammation and build immunity – just to name a few.
(At the time of this publication, Shannon lived in Austin, Texas, but she has since moved our of our area. We wish her well!)