A Real Food Childhood

Have you seen the movie "Blast from the Past?" We recently watched it with hubby and it got me thinking about my childhood back in Russia. I realized that in part, I can be thankful to the so called 'iron curtain' for eating real foods through my childhood. Why? Here is the back story...

In the age when Americans were discovering the joys of toxic processed foods such as Crisco, Spam, and Twinkies - we saw none of that in the Soviet Union. I'll be dating myself here, but I was born in 1983, so I do remember what it was like before the West infiltrated Russia with an onslaught of processed, shelf-stable 'miracle' foods. When I was about 7, Nestle flooded my childhood with the likes of Mars, Snickers, and Twix. The latter became my favorite! Thankfully the bulk of perishable foods we ate on a daily basis was still locally and mostly naturally produced foods. When we immigrated to the U.S. in 1995, we gorged on all the 'fabulous' processed food we've never seen in Russia and it took several years of reversing the damage from that kind of SAD (Standard American Diet). 

Every summer I would spend at least a month visiting my grandparents in the Ural mountains, feeding off of their generous fruit and vegetable garden that was the work of their hands. Buying still warm bread from the local bakery. Milk fresh from the cow. Foraging on wild blueberries as a little girl, while the adults were preparing hay in the fields at the end of August. No preservatives, chemicals, unpronounceable ingredients, food coloring. Growing up so close to nature, it makes me nostalgic thinking about it!

Today most children aren't so fortunate to be growing up on real, wholesome foods. So when my parents and in-laws (they are all Russian) offer my children something that I know isn't healthy, I remind them that they grew up eating real, fresh foods, why can't my children have the same? Sure, it isn't as easy to find real food today as it was in Soviet Russia, but it is something I'm willing to invest time in because it directly affect's my family's health. Is it easy? No. Is it worth it? Yes, absolutely.

I am not going to get into politics here and just for the record, I do not support socialism, but I have to say I had it pretty good in terms of nourishing foods as a child. I never tasted fake food coloring until I was probably 10, after the Soviet Union fell apart. Today my homeland is just as much intoxicated with fake foods as the United States, and not immune to chemical laden imports from China. Although Russian does ban some toxic imports from the States. It seems no matter where you go today and where you live, modern convenience foods are the norm. But there is a movement afoot, a gathering of moms, dads, kids, grandparents, young and old, rich and poor, people of all walks of life realizing that what they eat directly affects their health, mood, and quality of life.

Did you grow up on real foods or mostly processed products?

Previous posts from this series: 

Meat From a Local Farmer and My Learning Curve in the Kitchen {Cure Tooth Decay}

On Sugar and Grain Addiction... [Cure Tooth Decay]

Crumbling Baby Teeth

Photo: Nyam.pl