With Swich, it is our goal that you start cooking more whole foods (mostly plants) and reduce your consumption of processed foods.

If you’re not a 100% plant-based eater, that’s okay. We at Swich expect that most of you will actually fall into this category. We do hope, at a minimum, that you are willing to make the effort to either, a) increase your consumption of plant-based foods, or b) at least perfect cooking those you do eat. Too often non-plant-based cooks focus more on their main course (e.g. meat, poultry, pork, seafood, etc.) and their vegetable sides are after-thoughts.

Going back in time, our families used to teach us how to eat. They cooked from scratch using seasonal and local ingredients, and canned or pickled them to preserve them for times when fresh ingredients weren’t available. This emphasis on whole foods and home cooking kept them healthy, energetic, and strong with low incidences of diseases like cancer and diabetes.

Since the late 1950s, when we shifted to industrialized agriculture, many people began cooking and eating less real food and more manufactured food products. You’ll find many of these manufactured food products, such as chicken nuggets, pizzas, French fries and toaster pastries, in the frozen food aisle. They’re quick and easy to make, but they also lack health-promoting nutrients. They might fill your stomach and give you a quick boost of energy, but many are high in sodium, sugar and bad fats, not to mention preservatives and additives. In short, these foods are heavily refined and processed and should be avoided whenever possible if you seek to enhance your health.

Moving forward, it is our challenge to you that you try to be more aware of the foods you consume, how they were produced, and that you consider consuming more whole foods. If you do, we’ll support you by providing the cooking education you need to make your life awesome.

BTW…click on the Food, Inc. image in the tip to watch a trailer for a fantastic documentary.

If you’re interested in watching the full movie, you can do so here for free:
link to full documentary

Whole foods come from the earth, rather than from a package. They have an amazing power to fuel and heal the body as well as enhance health. Whole foods don’t need product labels to list ingredients, because they are an ingredient (a whole ingredient). Have you ever seen an ingredients list on a tomato?

Eating whole foods doesn’t have to be expensive, fussy or difficult. It means focusing on food in its most natural state—choosing a whole apple over prepared applesauce, making mashed potatoes from scratch instead of from a packet, or preparing a dish using all whole ingredients and your own cooking skills. When you cook at home with whole ingredients you can control all of the good nutrients that you put into your body and eliminate all the bad ingredients found in most prepared and processed foods that require long shelf lives.

Okay this assignment will take approximately 1 hour, maybe more.

1. First clear off your table or counter top.

2. Empty the contents of your entire fridge (yes, you are going to do this…trust the process). We won’t make you do the freezer :-).

3. Put all the whole ingredients in one section of the counter top (apples, bananas, meat, vegetables, etc.)

4. Put all the processed products in another pile (anything with an ingredients list).

5. Next put on your favorite song, and wash out your entire fridge (sparkling clean). Take pride in the fact that you’re actually doing this. You are resetting yourself and making way for the new and improved you.

6. Put it all back nice and tidy, discarding anything that scares you along with any condiments that you haven’t used in the last 3 months (or donate to local shelter).

7. Take a picture of your refreshed and tidy fridge and share with your fellow Swichers. In the comment section, share your thoughts on this activity if you’d like, and estimate in writing the % of foods that were whole foods (no ingredient labels). Be honest. We’re going to work on this.

Also take 5 minutes and have a look at some of the ingredient lists on your processed products. These ingredients are in your body for the record. Hmm….