Blog Book Tour | “Return to Food: the life changing anti-diet” by Sherry Strong

Acquired Book By: I was approached by iRead Book Tours to host another non-fiction title “Life Outside the Box” (which is upcoming on 22nd of June) prior to finding “Return to Food”. I decided to start hosting regularly with iRead Book Tours and their companion hosting company Italy Book Tours as a direct result of how welcoming they are to book bloggers. I received a complimentary copy of “Return to Food” direct from the author Sherry Strong in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

My initial interest in this author and book:

One of the best blessings to opening Return to Food was being greeted by the author’s own artwork on the illustrative plates which coordinate and cross-reference her messages throughout the book. My favourite illustrative plate is on page 3 which shows a portrait of a teenager and is talking about how teens can become unhealthy simply by the choices they are making in their diets. A fact I could relate to myself, as my school years were not my favourite years for eating as I found the time allotted for lunch was too rushed and only focused on getting us in/out of the cafeteria without any consideration for the time needed to consume the food we were eating. It was the first taste of the crazy rat-race of corporate America and the internal harried clock of the working man, because many professional careers do not allot a lot of time for meals much less for a persona life. Hence why this first illustration struck a chord with me, and I knew, having seen how she surrounded the graphic with words clarifying the key issues, that most of our downward spiral of unwellness due begin and start in childhood and/or adolescence.

The one thing I wanted to share as I was reading Return to Food is how I’ve never sought out a ‘diet’ per se but rather a lifestyle of eating that would allow my body to thrive in a way that was not co-dependent on foods which would only deplete my health and thereby, reduce the nutrition that I could have yielded if I had eaten foods differently. I have been on a quest for most of my life to source out the best way to balance food and the combinations of foods which would agree with my system. As for each person who is seeking a healthier lifestyle, we all have to remain mindful of what works for us and how to tap dance around allergies or other afflictions that make transitions a bit trickier than those who do not have them.

As I relay my experiences reading cookbooks inasmuch as hosting author guest features by the chefs or authors behind the books I am reading on healthy eats across the divide of where savoury and ambrosial meet each other in harmonic blissitude, I am hoping that perhaps something I am sharing about my own journey will resonate with other readers who are seeking a similar path. Underneath my blog posts are related posts which can give you a quick-step glimpse into where my wanderings as the Bookish Foodie have led me to go thus far along, inasmuch as you can scout out the cookbooks directly in either my Story Vault or my Publisher’s Story Vault (hint: scroll down to Cedar Fort’s imprint Front Table Books).

As you will find as you wind your way through my showcases on food, I have a penchant for whole foods, living foods, and a quirky attachment to gluten-free vegan baking! I personally love to eat vegan foods as much as I delight in the joy of fresh veg juicing with greens. A green smoothie to me is heavenly bliss and beet juice with a fusion of carrots, ginger, & other bits is a refreshing jolt of vitality. I don’t have to have a traditional plate of food in front of me to be happy because I have been on a journey towards living my inner truth of joy for over a decade now. I personally would love to become 100% vegetarian seeking out gluten-free and vegan compliments as often as I could. I love to eat by the seasons and I look forward to getting back to a simpler way of re-routing a food map which includes staples of must-haves that can co-relate and compliment other ingredients on a regular basis.

At the moment I’m an omnivore whose missing her herbivore days, but each of us is on a path that we must walk in order to get to where we’re going next. I don’t hide the fact I had to give up the herbivore lifestyle nor my quest to return back to where my own spirit thrived in the bliss of local farm fresh fruit and veg. I appreciate the dedication farmers are giving back to us as consumers, to where we can purchase fresh off the farm vegetables at farm stands and farmer’s markets or the new hybrid of the two: a you pick it yourself farm where your salad greens and your kohlrabi are practically kissing cousins! Laughs. Being able to find ways to understand the distance my food is travelling to my plate is important to me, especially in the world of Big-Ag and the propensity for creating fast food on a farm that is commercially produced in ways that I do not find ethical nor healthy.

For these reasons you can understand my interest in Return to Food

because I am already on a mission towards that end!

Return to Food: the life changing anti-diet
by Sherry Strong
Source: Author via iRead Book Tours

Chances are if you are feeling flat, fat and tired, or are experiencing chronic illness, you are not eating real food. If you want to bounce out of bed feeling fit and fabulous you must find out what is and isn't real food. This book challenges prescriptive approaches to diet, eating and food, with a revolutionary philosophical approach based on over 20 years of working with private clients. This approach has seen thousands of people develop a more pleasurable, healthier, and more sustainable eating lifestyle.

Genres: Cookery

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

Also by this author:

Published by Influence Publishing Inc.

on 1st December, 2014

Format: Paperback

Pages: 220

Published by: Influence Publishing Inc. (@influencepub)

Available Formats: Paperback

with Illustrations by Sherry Strong

Converse via: #ReturnToFood, #heathlyeats, & #vegan

By the time you get into the heart of the book, you have to have the mindset going in that most of what your going to be reading is borderline depressing and outright disheartening on a whole. The state of our food chain and food resources have been taking major hits for a number of years (if not a century!), and I haven’t been blinded by it, but I do put on a few blinders in order to get through my everyday life. You can only do as much as your able to do on any given day, and there are times where I feel my mind blink off when attempting to read more about the destruction of the natural environment and the sanctity of healthy vegetables, fruits, grains, etc.

For readers who are not as well-read or self-educated as I am in the wider scope of what is happening in our world (as this is a world-wide issue, not an American one) it will be eye opening. I will say, as I grew up in an industry adjacent to a morgue, I knew all too well the ingredients which are cross-used in different ways to cause direct harm to humans. The best example is how you will find formaldehyde in a cigarette; one very strong reason I never had ANY interest in smoking. The more you learn at young ages the more adaptable you become to changes as you grow, but even, if you haven’t caught on to the snarky and despondently horrid side of how big industries are changing our lives until your an adult, Ms Strong has given you a primer to become educated. Also, being a knitter, I’ve learnt a thing or two about synthetics and why I was always allergic to them; motor oil and fuell are not limited to processed foods, as they’re a short step away from the clothing your wearing. Again, you have to find balance or the world will be painted black and negative as a result of what you research.

I have the tendency to seek out the positive — I celebrate how we’re getting it right vs how much we’re getting wrong. Including celebrating the countries who do not use any pesticides at all such as the Dominican Republic. I like finding organisations (either non-profit or for-profit) which are re-vitialising change inside their urban and rural communities, however, I didn’t find a listing of these inside Return to Food as a gateway for readers to find local resources per region (if in the United States & Canada) or provincial (if in England, Europe, or Australia).

When Ms Strong shifted gears towards the end of Return to Food focusing on how we can be receptive to change through our own biorhythm signals I started to see a bit more hope and light filtering in from the shadows. Finding a way back to acknowledging what our bodies are telling us and what those signals are translating to mean is one key way back to a state of personal wellness. I have firm beliefs that if we listen to our inner selves and our inner conduit to wisdom, we will live more authentically as we are becoming in-tune with who we are on a more fundamental level of insight.

To take a full shift backwards into a more spirit-centered approach to wellness, but acknowledging our mindfulness of how living in harmony with our foods and the natural environment outside our windows is a step forward for everyone. I appreciated seeing Ms Strong outline a path for readers to try out for themselves which tackles everything from a moment out in the natural world to encouraging a time for mediation and a re-found love of drinking water. The second half of the book is where I found a more pleasurable read because it was on track to where I had hoped Return to Food would have had a more centralised focus and then extend out from there. Even the short-list guide to replacing your must-grab staples for your kitchen and pantry on page 134 is a good resource to include because it illustrates how change is not radical and small changes will become second nature in time.

The only criticism I could say that in amending a healthier mindset is that getting rid of a television is only half the battle because we will always be surrounded by events and news that will affect us as a society. I personally do not advocate to get rid of a television for a few different reasons such as: The Weather Channel is a positive pro-active way to be self-aware of how the natural world affects us lives in extreme situations of peril; Turner Classic Movies is an incredible source of well-written narratives and stimulating story-lines; Hallmark Channel where light-hearted comedies and romances enliven your spirit after a hard week; PBS where you can regularly find culture, music, theatre, and other self-educating events and serials to heighten your awareness of the world and your dvd player, where you can pick/choose which motion pictures and seasonal dvds to borrow from your local library. My local library has become my go-to resource for the BBC where I have happily become entrenched in engaging adaptive mini-series, quirky comedies, well-defined dramas, and a craft for telling a story that is on the level of Classical Literature.

The television itself isn’t the problem; it’s what we elect to view on it. We’re in control of the remote!

Fly in the Ointment: Note on Content:

I was a bit overwhelmed by the nuances of how everything is going into a toxic sludge of despair, that I think I even missed what types of farming practices and farmers Ms Strong likes to support. I was curious why ancient grains were not highlighted (as again, this goes back where you are on your journey; I’ve known about the contamination of grains) nor why I couldn’t find a section on heirloom vegetables and seeds? What about the products which are being ethically and naturally produced without the harmful additives? What about the companies who are getting it right? (I was hoping there might have been an index of companies you can order products from in the Appendixes.) I believe I initially felt this book might be a bit different than it reads — to where I thought it might be more representative of what is positively affecting health and a happier outlook on lifestyles being uplifted by real food and real advocates for a change back to where we originally used to place high priority on our conservation and ethical farming practices. In some ways, I think I would have preferred to hear antidotes from the local farmers (throughout the regions I’ve mentioned) as much as the local restaurants who are sourcing within a 100 mile radius and including forgers of mushrooms or fishermen who are pulling in catch that are lower in mercury or are consumed by those who eat the fish in moderation.

I truly was missing out on the ‘second part’ of the book – Ms Strong does an excellent job at explaining tooth and nail in bare bone simplicity what is wrong but again, I want to start seeing content in books likes these that are celebrating who is getting it right, how they lead the changes they are curating, and how all of us can rally behind them. Especially as I have always had a strong belief in grassroots movements where ordinary individuals can effectively make incredible changes in their local areas.

This book review is courtesy of: iRead Book Tours

Be sure to follow the blog tour : Click through via the badge for the route!

Be sure to visit my author interview with Ms Strong!

See what I am hosting next on my Bookish Events!

I look forward to reading your reactions in the comments!

In conjunction with my “The Bookish Foodie” Feature on Jorie Loves A Story:

Quite wicked happy on this being the last cookbook feature on my bookish blog for 2014, before I kick off new features & showcases in 2015 where I am going to be highlighting both fiction and non-fiction Foodie delights! I have always appreciated “Foodie Fiction”, but I am also an amateur sous chef who likes to experiment in the kitchen with her Mum! I grew up with a keen interest in savory and sweet decadence from a Mum whose culinary wanderings spanned the world. We were always a family who were considered to eat ‘bland’ food due to the fact we limited our salt intact, and we never used black pepper! Ironically, it was through the herbs and spices my Mum always fused into our cooking adventures that first sparked my own interest in getting a bit more involved than merely developing a ‘taste’ for what I appreciated. I developed my own yearnings for Indian spices (i.e. Curry Powder, Garam Marsala, Turmeric, etc) and foods, as much as I always had a hankering for extra garlic cloves due to a high concentration of Italian foods I consumed growing up. I wanted to merge my bookish joy of reading ‘Foodie Fiction’ with my quest to uncover a healthier and more vibrant way to eat, live, and thrive. Therefore, I decided to begin featuring what I consider fit under this new Feature of Jorie Loves A Story: The Bookish Foodie! As I am *exactly!* what the title eludes — I’m a bookish girl who has a Foodie soul! Drop back and spend time with me to see where this Feature takes me!

Follow future installments by: #TheBookishFoodie

{SOURCES: Cover art of “Return to Food”, book synopsis, author photograph of Sherry Strong, author biography and the tour badge were all provided by iRead Book Tours and used with permission. Cookery Delights | Savoury & Ambrosial | Cookbook reviews by the Bookish Foodie Banner created by Jorie in Canva. Photo Credit: Unsplash Public Domain Photographer Monstruo Estudio. The Bookish Foodie badge created by Jorie in Canva. Comment Box Banner made by Jorie in Canva. Tweets embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination.}

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