“There is no sincerer love than the love of food.”—George Bernard Shaw

To kick off National Nutrition month, we’re going to be bold and say that for most of us, food is a really important part of our lives! It’s woven into so much of daily living, we tend to forget it’s there. Often we shop quickly, and eat out of habit or convenience.

This month, the Carebook team is going to ask that you take note of the food in your life—to think about what you eat, and why you eat it.

You might see patterns of beautiful, healthy consumption and great experiences that you want to preserve. Or, you might recognize some food indulgences that you want to change. Either way, we’re on this journey together. If you’ve got habits around food you want to celebrate or change, the first thing to do is be mindful about them—just to be aware of how it impacts your life. All this month, we hope to give you some interesting food for thought.

Food as fuel

With all the messages that bombard us around food, we sometimes forget that its primary purpose is to fuel our bodies! After all, from a variety of sources, we hear over and over that food is the answer for almost everything. Want to show love? Buy chocolates or dinner out. Want to get fit? Buy special supplements, bars, or powders. Want to save time? Buy this package or this one.

But the bottom line is that we need to eat a certain amount of certain nutrients for our bodies to function. It’s worth taking a bit of time to examine our relationship with food. Do you look at food as a way to fuel your body and mind?

Food as tradition & celebration

The rich taste of grandma’s meatballs and sauce. Laughter around the table. The smell of the breakfasts your dad made for you on weekends. For many of us, food is a thread that runs through all kinds of traditions and functions. The smells and textures and tastes over the years start to build context and expectations. Do you have certain food traditions that enrich your life?

Food as time well spent

Some of our greatest memories revolve around doing things with food. Shopping or cooking with kids, trying new food together, or even standing at the sink washing and drying the dinner dishes together—activities that center around food provide many cherished memories. What are your favorite memories that center around food?

Food as prevention & medicine

There’s an increasing focus on food that can help us be healthy today and stay healthy tomorrow, too. The World Health Organization estimates that by 2020, two-thirds of all diseases will be the result of lifestyle choices—food included! There’s increasing research being done about food that helps our bodies feel amazing today, perform better today, and prevent chronic illness in the future. What foods do you regularly eat because you know they make you feel good today and can help make you feel good tomorrow, too?

Food can fuel us. It can bring us together and weave together shared experiences and family traditions. It can be used as medicine and it has preventative health powers, too.

This month, we’re excited to explore all of these different ideas around food. We invite you to start looking at your food choices (good and bad!) and become aware of what and why you eat. Bon Appétit!