I’ve stolen the phrase from discussion around breastfeeding: should I feed a baby this way or that way or on the moon or on a chair made of solid gold? The answer is: if the baby needs to eat right now, the best way to feed the baby is to feed them right now, with whatever is available that is okay for babies to eat. However works right in this moment is the best way to do it.
If you want to make moon arrangements, or obtain a gold chair, you can work on that project as you’re able, but until those are obtained the baby still needs regular meals. Fed is best, as any other option is unacceptable.
Get yourself fed, first and foremost.
Food does not have a moral value*. The only “bad” food is spoiled or adulterated or will otherwise harm you if you eat it. Food is not “naughty”, it isn’t playing pranks on the neighbors or acting up in class. Food isn’t “guilty” unless it has committed a crime in which case the food is supposed to feel bad, not you – you’ve got nothing to do with it. Food isn’t lazy, and it would be best if we didn’t categorize it as scary or weird just because we’re not super familiar with it but someone else who is different from you eats it all the time.
Food can be a pleasure, but it doesn’t have to be – the nutrients all work the same even if it is boring or unremarkable. Unpleasant food, again, you have to make a determination on safety, and some foods may be disagreeable to your body and that’s a decent reason to avoid them or try to solve the problem over time, but we shouldn’t treat food as unpleasant just because it’s not The Perfect Bite in this moment. It is okay for food to sometimes just be fuel, it is okay for food to be medicine, it is sometimes reality that food is difficult or unpleasant to deal with because of circumstances or feelings.
But we believe in Science around here, and Science says you have to consume a generally-defined set of nutrients periodically or really terrible things happen to you, so your options are pretty much: eat, or feeding tube.
I do think it’s okay to try to maximize – at whatever effort level you’re capable of on a specific day – for the food to taste pretty good and contain the general overall nutrients Science says you should consume. It is nice when the food is nice.
I recognize that a lot of people coming here for the name of the blog may have dietary restrictions or sensory constraints. I will do my best to recommend modifications where helpful, and also to educate on how to figure out how to make changes when changes are needed. At any given point, anything I tell you to do might have to be modified to suit your needs and that’s okay.
But principle #1 is always going to be: just get some food in you. When plans fail and ideas fall apart and inspiration has headed for the hills, just find a food and get fed. That’s the most important part.
*Yes, food production does, but solving those moral dilemmas requires a systemic set of solutions that are not within any one individual’s reach. Do your best when you’re able, vote when it’s time, scream at your electeds constantly.
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