As a bona fide foodie, I loved orchestrating this month’s issue for you and hope you dig into it with as much gusto as I did. I do owe you a full disclosure: My foodie nature is defined less by connoisseurship and more by the quantity of food I relish. Experiencing the many miraculous powers of fresh and natural foods that unfold daily is exciting.

I began my own enlightened journey with food both overweight and in recovery from breast cancer treatment. Eight years ago, at the urging of a nutrition coach, I started seeking out natural and organic produce. At the time, I lived in a South Florida food desert, absent the multitude of  produce farms North Texas enjoys.

Still, I became hooked on the unparalleled taste of upgraded foods, a decrease in allergy symptoms and loss of 50 pounds in six months through following a personalized nutritional eating plan. The resulting upsurge in daily energy was amazing. I enjoy life so much more when a significant percentage of what I put into my body is free of manufactured chemicals.

Although I haven’t yet conquered the research and discipline required to exercise substantive medicinal and healing regimes using food, I’m always aware of how my body knows and responds to what’s good for it. God has made the body to be self-sustaining and self-healing, just as He made the Earth to sustain itself and include all we need to survive and thrive. This month’s Food Democracy issue celebrates and delves deeply into this phenomenon.

Citizens of the North Texas Metroplex are blessed to be surrounded by working farms that provide an abundance of fresh, natural and organic produce and grass-fed and free-range meat and dairy products. Based on rising consumer demand, our region is experiencing a cultural and commercial shift toward locally sourced foods from our groceries to our restaurants. We love to support this healthy move by presenting this summer’s eight–page Farmers’ Market Guide, which also includes North Texas farms and community supported agriculture (CSA) programs. This special section is a pull-out to keep as a handy reference.  

Education is key to every one embracing a healthier lifestyle, just as it was for me. We lead off with Melinda Hemmelgarn’s article “Food Democracy: By the People, For the People and Toward a Stronger Nation,” which cites the urgent need for transparency in our food supply. Susie Marshall, of Grow North Texas, weighs in on local provisions for ensuring a reliable healthy food supply here in “Food Democracy in North Texas.”Judith Fertig’s  “Veggie Nation Revolution” highlights the benefits of eating more plants. Investigative author Jeffrey Smith warns of the dangers from the GMOs permeating grocery aisles.It’s time to make a stand for our right to clean food.

As always, we hope you’ll find something in these pages that will inspire you to live ever healthier and greener. Your leading by example encourages and supports others in their own journey to a better way of being.

Blessings,

Bernice Butler, Publisher