Last week's Substack was a bit of a rant I admit on modern food culture, albeit one with a purpose and some tangible suggestions.
I struggle with food culture in this country. How long we take to eat, what we eat, and how much junk kids eat outside of meals, setting their little bodies up for metabolic issues twenty years on. I see where this road is leading in my clients, and how many of our metabolic issues could have been avoided early on.
One of the things I was struck by while considering why the French excel here, is the values of learning how to eat at school that go far beyond what we are eating into social dynamics and nervous system regulation.
For example, at our kids' school (which btw, serves homemade organic meals twice a day), there is still room for improvement on my part. When we were setting up this new program for cooking in house, a team of dedicated parents put a lot of energy into creating areas for eating that were inviting and had the kids wanting to stay and finish their meals. It was a massive improvement over what was happening before.
In many French schools, lunch is treated as part of the curriculum. I used to respect the french from a culinary perspective, now I understand better how their values around mealtime go beyond pure gastronomy. One aspect of school mealtime curriculum I find particularly insightful is the rule that everyone remains seated throughout the entire meal. Something that used to be quite commonplace, but is practiced less every day.
Staying seated together throughout mealtime teaches:
A sense of togetherness and belonging. We eat the same thing, and we do it in the same timeframe.
Co-regulation. If someone is jumping up or leaving early or eating a cookie first from their own lunchbox, it impacts the nervous system of every child. Eating the same thing and learning to stay seated until all are finished builds in a moment in the day to truly rest and digest, something that is greatly lacking in our school systems. Many of the adults I work with spend most of their day in fligh or fight, including mealtime. If it's not learned even earlier at home, our nervous system dysregulation starts at school lunchtime.
Getting comfortable being bored if you are a quick eater. This enforced mealtime can inspire fast eaters to take their time. And for slower eaters, it allows them to feel unrushed as they do eat.
There is a natural pacing to what is eaten when that is then embodied in the culture at large. Americans often marvel at why the French are so svelte when their cuisine is loaded with fat, carbs and butter. Part of their secret lies in the actual ritual around eating, the pace and the order in which things are eaten, rather than just what it is they are eating. That said, school and home meals are often well balanced with fruit, vegetables, protein and carbs.
I can't say we have this completely figured out, but with the new school year, we have new intentions around mealtime, and I am sharing more vulnerably with my kids about why this matters to me. When it comes to family rituals, my kids seem to resonate and respond best when I speak from my own longings as opposed to trying to simply enforce rules.
In service of your own mealtime rituals, I'm sharing my minestrone recipe, which is quite versatile. Soup is a dish that's hard to eat quickly. Even if you do, eating slow cooked meats and vegetables with ample liquid is about the best way to take in food for our digestion. For those of you who struggle to better honor mealtime at a properly slow pace, soup can help bridge the gap.
minestrone soup
1 tablespoon organic avocado oil 1 onion, peeled and diced 1 carrot, peeled and diced 1 stalk of celery, diced 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced 1 tablespoon dried oregano, basil, or marjoram (or 3 tablespoons chopped fresh) ½ cup dry white wine or dry vermouth (optional) 1 small (about 14 oz) can diced tomatoes 1 14-oz can beans, drained and rinsed — cannellini or Great Northern (any beans work) 6 cups vegetable or chicken stock (or water if you don't have homemade stock) a couple handfuls of small shaped pasta (about a cup) 2 cups vegetables (broccoli, green beans, zucchini, peeled + diced winter squash, and/or kale, etc. — whatever is in season) 1 bay leaf 1 whole small dried red chile 1 parmesan rind, optional Pesto, optional Sea Salt
Cut up all of your vegetables before you start. Peeling the strings off the outside of the celery stalk is a small thing that keeps them from showing up later in the bowl.
Over medium heat, sauté the onion, carrot and celery in the oil for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and the dried herbs and sauté another minute.
Add the wine or vermouth and tomatoes let it reduce for a few minutes.
Add the beans, stock, bay leaf, chile, and parmesan rind. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Add any hardy vegetables now — like winter squash. Taste and salt.
Simmer at least 30 minutes. Add tender vegetables — broccoli, green beans, zucchini, kale — in the last 10 minutes so they stay themselves. In general, the longer the base simmers the better it tastes.
Add the pasta and cook until al dente. If you plan to eat leftovers, cook the pasta separately and add it to the bowls just before serving.
Fish out the bay leaf, chile, and rind. If using fresh herbs, chop and add to the bowl just before eating. To raise this soup to the next level, add a big dollop of pesto just before serving.
In this newsletter, I explore many aspects of wellbeing.
Whether you feel a call to improve your gut health, or your hormones feel out of whack, or your recent lab results are a bit concerning, each is a possible gateway to greater health.
Eating in a state of rest & digest isn't a small thing. It's a reflection of your nervous system— the one that determines how much of your digestion is turned on, how well you sleep, and how the HPA axis governing your hormones behaves.
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