My food journey

Marc Mustler

Growing up I was a very adventurous eater. I am often reminded by my family that my favorite foods as a small child were blueberries and artichokes. My family has shaped a lot of how I think about food. When I think about my family I think about food. Connecting over meals at the table, celebrating holidays and birthdays, and simply going over to my grandparent’s house all involved food. I joke that my grandma’s love language is food.

Stefan Vladimirov

My childhood consisted of home-cooked meals full of fresh produce and diverse cuisine. I know this is not the reality for many people, so I am grateful for the experience I had. Growing up, there was no restriction when it came to food. In my house, I was exposed to all different kinds of foods and had every food available to me at all times. For good or for bad, there was always an abundance of food.

I never thought about where my food came from or how it affected me or the world around me until I took my first nutrition class in undergrad. As a Public Health major, I took a nutrition class as an elective my last semester. We read the book In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. The three tenants of the book are, “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants”. It seems simple enough, but these three points really shifted my thinking about nutrition and how we should eat. Have the majority of your diet be fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes, with minimal processing, in the proper proportions.

Anna Pelzer

In addition, we also learned that of the major causes of death in America -- heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes -- over 80% of them can be prevented by modifying lifestyle behaviors including diet, exercise, and not smoking. It was a lightbulb moment for me that connected the dots between public health and nutrition. Seeing nutrition through a public health lens made me realize the importance of diet in preventing diseases.

About a year later I decided to go plant-based. I did so mostly for the health reasons mentioned above that I had been mulling over and researching, but also because my environment changed. Following graduation, I lived in Asia for six months where I wasn’t eating a lot of dairy. When I came back home, I went back to my old diet. My body did not like that shift back, and I began to feel heavy, bloated, and gassy when I ate a lot of dairy. I decided to shift to a plant-based diet. It was a gradual process for me, as I am slow to change. I was afraid of what other people would say and afraid I was doing the wrong thing.

In the beginning, I was pretty strict about eating plant-based, but over time I began to have a more flexible approach. I incorporated fish back into my diet -- one of my loves -- and eggs. When I am in social situations I am more vegetarian because I value food as more than just nutrients but as part of culture and community. I aim to eat well 90% of the time, that way I don’t have to worry about the times when I don’t eat well. Food is meant to be enjoyed and celebrated, not calculated, and guilt-inducing. I don’t identify with the labels “vegan”, “vegetarian”, or “omnivore” because I am not any of those. I eat mostly plants, but I want to have the flexibility to decide what I eat without the constraints of something defining me.

Another thing I have learned to do is to focus on what nourishing foods I can add to my diet instead of taking things away. From this shift in mindset, positivity wins over negativity. This philosophy allows for long term sustainable change because it makes space for all food in the diet.

Toa Heftiba

It took me a while to get to this more balanced approach. I think for a while I felt guilty for not being 100% vegan or 100% not vegan. But after a lot of time and reflection, I became okay with the idea that nutrition will never be black and white. A lot of people have an “all or nothing” mindset, and that’s great for some, but that’s never going to be me. I like to live in the gray. Truthfully, I don’t like to live in the gray (because often it’s easier to be binary), but I think it’s where I need to be. It’s often messier, not fitting neatly inside a box, it will ensure critics on both sides, but it’s in the gray that I find the balance between health and joy.

I eat mostly plants for my health, for the environment, and to contribute to less suffering in the world. But I’m not perfect, and I don’t want to be. Perfect is the enemy of the good, as Voltaire once said. We should always aim to be kind to ourselves and to others in whatever we do, even choosing what we eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Do what feels like the next right thing for you. There is no “perfect diet”. We all have a history with food that is very personal and undoubtedly influences how we eat now. I encourage you to be kind and find joy in the food you eat.

Kelsey Chance

Keep thriving,

Erica