thefoodlessprocessed

Ultra-processed food is a source of great concern to many of us. People often express frustration at trying to remove the ultra-processed components from their shopping, cooking and eating.

There is a much simpler alternative to this never-ending, stress-filled pick-and-choose method, once one realizes that ultra-processed food is a system, and that one may choose an alternative system that precludes, by definition, ultra-processed ingredients and food.

Traditional European and American cuisines evolved over centuries, primarily in homes. The widespread chronic health issues associated with the ultra-processed system were little known. These various regional and local traditions are knit together by the ingredients, techniques and manners of eating they use (albeit in individual styles). They are compatible one with another within a single structure.

We are fortunate to be able to join their forces into a food system that returns food to the blessing to both body and soul that it is intended to be. We invite you to experience cooking within these combined traditions, where the delicious joys of the table and sound health are one and the same.

A brief explanation of how the site works may be helpful. Each recipe strives to use as many less processed forms of ingredients as possible. The introduction to a recipe concludes with a list of those ingredients linked to an Ingredients page where you may read in more detail some reasons why we choose the ingredients we do. Photographs of ingredient labels illustrate the explanations.

Among the blog’s categories you will see one called: thefoodlessprocessed. Here you will find short written pieces on a variety of topics related to the subject of less processed cooking and eating. We hope some of them may shine lights that appeal to your own creative efforts to evolve your own version of a less processed food system.

There is a great range of choices we can make to step away from the ultra-processed system…from baking less processed bread to buying or making less processed ingredients. Any of these many choices is a step in a good direction– toward honest, delicious food of outstanding quality.