Australian Fair Food Forum

Mental health and food

These notes were taken from a group discussion session at the Food Sovereignty Convergence in Canberra, 23/24 November 2017.

• Chinese medicine- body clock
• Disciplined routine- less stress
• 5-7 am- empty bowel to start the day. IBS, constipation
• 7-8am stomach active- breakfast- proper chewing to aid digestion
• Spleen 9-11am- small intestine, better digestion, probiotics
• Heart 1-3pm
• Adequate water- 2L/day
• Exercise + movement- circulation, socialising
• Sleep- digestion, breathing, dreaming
• Genetic diet- cultural ancestry
• Rotate diet
• Synthetic ingredient- addictive, hormone disruptors
• Mental health- interventions
• Physical support rather than purely emotional (RUOK? Etc.) eg. Nutritious meal
• Lesser known programs – Casserole register in schools to provide support for families in need, small community/village style support base.
• Gut/brain link.
• Addictive foods eg. Sugar. Sugar tax
• Raw milk
• Social media campaign
• Tap into natural desire for connection.
• Brazil replacement for food pyramid. Eg: eat socially, share meals and recipes, know and grow your food, enjoy your food
• Re-engage traditional connections with food/community
• Kids- school programs and community gardens
• How to engage?
• Proper funding for education programs, integrate into curriculum
• How to prevent people ‘dropping out of community’?
• Utilising public spaces eg. Verges to rebuild community
• Bureaucratic blockages?
• Mental health meals (but something that sounds sexier!)
• Improvement in harvest/prep etc.
• Help people experience quality/taste/enjoyment
• Back to basic life pleasures, peasant pleasures.

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