Imagine a world where everyone is at their ideal weight and each one of us could maintain it. Imagine if we could all find healthy eating enticing and delicious by using the many choices available. Imagine if we had an understanding of how each ingredient in our food benefits our health.
We could come to the realization that our eating style dictates our health and weight, and that the onslaught of preventable illnesses in the American population is, in large part, due to poor eating. We could wipe out obesity and many of the ailments associated with it, such as type 2 diabetes.
The irony is we pour billions of dollars into the diet and the fast food industries simultaneously. Our weight and health is a direct result of our food choices. Too often, people give up easily on healthy eating because they tend to eat the same boring items over and again in an effort to lose weight. Monotonous eating will always lead to overeating or poor eating and monotonous eating is also the reason why I believe the diet and the fast food industries continue to flourish.
100 Years of American Cuisine is a program I present on college campuses. It
illustrates how our cuisine, along with our cooking and grocery shopping
methods, have evolved throughout the last 100 years, how fast food drive-ins
started, and how each transition affected the population’s weight and health.
The program also delves into the beginnings of large food companies, and how many were initiated in the family kitchen, also known as the heart of the home. In the early 1900’s, out of concern and love, Margaret Rudkin searched for healthier baked goods for her family. Her son was allergic to store-bought bread and she believed there must an alternative. She experimented by baking different breads in her home kitchen, on the family farm in Connecticut they called Pepperidge Farm. Her motive was to enable her son to eat a simple sandwich along with the family. In 1929 she founded the Pepperidge Farm Company by selling her delicious and unique home-made bread to a local grocer. Today its name is among the top 2% of globally recognized brands.
We need to step away from the trappings of the fast food of today and the false promises of the latest weight loss miracle. We need to get our families back into the kitchen. The kitchen is where we connect to each other and where we prepare food that nourishes our family. Today we are limited to the amount of time we can spend preparing dinners. We run out of ideas about what to make and then fall back into fast food or monotonous fare that leads to weight gain and ill health.
There is help: Venus Quintana, CNC Nutritionist & Wellness Expert and the founder of ForEva Fit.
Quintana founded ForEva Fit as a dedication to her late mother Eva. “My mother was an altruistic, vibrant and charismatic woman, who will forever be a part of me,” (Quintana says through teary eyes.) “My mother was an exceptional cook and baker, who taught me how to use only the best, freshest ingredients. She believed that cooking was about sharing love and making people happy. She continues to guide and inspire me every day.”
Along with her nutritional counseling Quintana has joined forces with Dr. David Gentile to share their love of cooking and culinary expertise. They teach people how to create healthy and delicious meals using different spices and flavor combinations. From their home kitchen they conduct hands-on cooking classes and produce instructional videos titled Hot in the Kitchen. They use original and imaginative recipes, and together they ignite a passion and bring excitement into preparing and enjoying family meals.
We are entertained and educated by Quintana and Gentile as they share healthy, scrumptious menu ideas. They illustrate that healthy eating is never monotonous, they provide information on how each food item promotes good health, and they share time-saving techniques. Their focus is to Keep America Healthy. Their mission is to bring people back into the kitchen and use cooking as a way of expressing and sharing love.
Food should be varied to ensure proper nutrition and optimum satisfaction, and the family’s health depends upon it. This year, follow the lead of Quintana and Gentile and return to the kitchen. Be happy and be healthy with your food choices.