Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Canning 101

Thinkstock Single Image SetLast week I went to the opening of the farmers market in Minnetonka. It was a great experience with many local farmers, including a group of farmers who brought canned peaches, tomatoes, tomato sauce and once again a memory of my grandmother making canned wild berry reserves was triggered. I remember as a young child picking wild raspberries, strawberries and blackberries and then canning the reserves. I do remember opening the cans in the middle of winter and thinking of all those summer days of picking the berries...hmmm, what a great memory!

I don't know anyone who does canning anymore, including myself. Actually, canning can be very easy and it is a great way to eat fresh and locally year round. So whether your tomato plant is bursting with more tomatoes than you ever could imagine, or you are frequenting all of the farmers markets and finding you are having an extra amount of fresh fruit and veggies -- consider canning those extras instead of throwing them away!

The National Center for Home Food Preservation is a great starting point to learning how to can your own fruits and vegetables. You also can find information and professional guidance at your local Cooperative Extension Office.


The New York Times, highlights some of the challenges with canning in their article Some Canning Dos and Dont's -- this article is a MUST READ if you are considering canning. Since there is a higher risk of food contamination, it is essential to follow recipes closely and to pay very close attention during canning. Recipes should not be followed if they were developed before 1990 since there was such a great risk for food borne illness and the USDA did not publish their comprehensive guide to Home Canning until 1998.

So, be smart and safe when home canning. Overall it is an easy way to reduce waste and to enjoy of the flavors of the summer in January!

Additional Resources:


Recipes:







Saturday, July 04, 2009

Breaking Generational Worry Around Food

Three kids (8-10) at table, having breakfast, portrait

I had an interview with Gale from the Minnesota News Network yesterday in response to the report from the Trust For America's Health which found that Minnesota had the lowest rate of overweight children in the nation. And while, I am always impressed when we rank number 1, it still is a staggering 23% of our children who are overweight which is concerning.

I talked with Gale about the need for an environment where both the parents and the child have a positive relationship with food and the parents model balanced and structured meals. Discussing that parents who worry, fear, talk about food excessively, eat sporadically or excessively or are hyper focused, or trying to hard to overcorrect can lead to a high chance that the child will model that same behavior and ultimately a poor relationship with food which can lead to brain wiring around stress, which can ultimately lead to physiological imbalances that for some can cause weight gain and a lifetime of angst. Thus, the developing brain of a child can wire to have similar fears and stress responses around food as the adult which can last throughout adulthood and be passed on to another generation.

A dear friend of mine, who is a therapist, suggested a book written by Daniel Siegel and Marty Hartzell called Parenting from the Inside Out, which I happened to pick up last week. Now, I am only page 64, but already this has been one of the best popular books that I have read that clearly explains how implicit memory, explicit memory and brain development occur. This book does not have a "food" theme, however it does help explain how wiring (poor relationships with food and body, fear, etc) occurs and how we as parents have triggers from our own previous experiences in life which can cause stress responses. Some of these stress response triggers are very much hidden in the subconscious and we are often not even aware of why they are happening. If we don't have an understanding of these previous life experineces, then the likelihood that they will be passed on to the next generation is high. Sigel writes "Without such self-understanding, however, science has shown that history will likely repeat itself, as negative patterns of family interactions are passed down through the generations". With that being said, the good news is "your early experiences do not determine your fate". Siegel states that when there is understanding of early-life experiences then "you are not bound to re-create the same negative interactions with your own children".

I work with a significant number of adults in my practice who have lived in fear and angst with food their entire life. For many of those clients, they are now feeding their own children which brings up a lot of their fears and unreasonable expectations. Again, fear and angst create a physiological response which can lead to cravings, hunger and weight gain. Having an understanding and setting new reasonable expectations as an adult can significantly change the brain wiring, resulting in a better relationship with food, decreasing the stress response and if you have children, providing a better model for your child.

Be curious! Watch and connect with the feelings that food, meals, weight bring up when you are with your child.

Have compassion for your self and the process. If you watched your mom or dad worry about
food a lot when you were a child, or if there were unreasonable expectations placed on you as a child... "great job for eating all your food", "you are good if you are a certain weight", etc., then chances are those messages are deeply wired in memory. As an adult they may seem silly, but you may still be feeling those feelings and living with those unreasonable expectations.

Get professional help. Work with a therapist or nutrition therapist (this is my specialty). There is no need to try to attempt this journey alone. The Solution Method, is an excellent tool for helping create more reasonable expectations and attachment.

Neuroscience research has show us that brain wiring can and does change, so even though your early memory may have wired around food and stress, it doesn't mean that it needs to stay that way! Changing your brain is a gift for you and generations!