What is REAL Food?

I love the convergence of summer and fall. Peaches and watermelon in the same photo with persimmons, purple hull peas, fresh apple cider vinegar and apples. I love seeing what is available each season and coming up with recipes that reflect the season. It is what seasonal cooking is all about. 


With the Rally for Real Food coming up this Sunday, I began thinking about what REAL food means to me. 


To me, REAL food is food grown with integrity. It is about farmers that care enough about the soil to not put pesticides into our food and water table. It is about community. REAL food brings communities together through supporting local farmers and their families, swapping stories and recipes at a farmers market and bringing back the family meal to our dinner tables. 


REAL food is not made in a lab or created by a scientist. REAL food does not contain preservatives or additives (check out this infographic about additives). REAL food is grown through hard work, sweat and some help from Mother Nature. REAL food nourishes the body, the mind and the soul. 


There are so many wonderful locally made food products in Austin, but to be a wholesome food and a truly local product, I believe they should use locally grown whole food ingredients. Local growers and local producers have a win win situation when they can support each other in this way. 


We were able to pick up a few of these local gems at the Barton Creek Farmers' Market this weekend. We bought Love Creek Orchard's Gala and Pink Lady apples as well as their Apple Cider Vinegar. Johnson's Backyard Garden had a cute little watermelon that needed a home. We also stocked up on persimmons, dates and peaches at Lightsey Farms to use in some new raw recipes that I'll post next week . We also picked up some purple hull peas that ended up being some good family entertainment. We  sat together and shelled peas together on Monday night and laughed when one would go shooting across the room. 


Understanding the story of our food is important in taking control of our health, being better stewards of the land and appreciating the struggle, love and hard work it took to get to our plate.


Join us at the Rally for Real Food this Sunday, October 2nd on the South Steps of the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas.