By Adrienne Markworth
Several things point to the growing importance of food and nutrition in our culture. One is the popularity of books like The Art of Simple Food and The Omnivore’s Dilemma (and the follow-up, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto.) In fact, we’re even summarizing the main ideas of these titles in a workshop we’re creating for the employees of BRIDGE Housing. People really want to know about what they’re eating!
Another is the unbelievable amount of resumes I’ve received in response to our most recent round of job postings. We’ve always had a fair amount of interest in facilitating our workshops, but this level of enthusiasm is certainly unprecedented. Letter after letter reminds me how many people are on board with our mission and are already working in their communities to bring about empowerment and change with regards to food and nutrition for people from all backgrounds. It’s inspiring to me when I think about our involvement in such an important mission—and we’re not in it alone.
On a personal note, my younger child is embarking on his own food journey—and it hasn’t been easy. Unlike my daughter, who shovels most food in like it may be her last meal (she even finishes the baby’s food for him), my little one is much more hesitant to open his little mouth. It’s definitely forced me to go back and think about what we tell our clients during workshops and put it into practice.
Our patience is paying off though—today when he opened up to welcome multiple mouthfuls of yogurt, my daughter leaped from her chair screaming with excitement: “Mom! He actually opened his mouth, you didn’t have to trick him!” I was glad to have someone with whom to share the moment. I hope that’s how our workshop participants feel when they find a way to accomplish one of the goals they create during our workshop—like they have plenty of excited people cheering them on.