My Ideal Diet: What I Eat

Although I do not believe there is a single diet that is ideal for the global population, I do believe there is an ideal diet for me. I have yet to find every aspect of the ideal diet, but through many years of experimentation and exploration, I have made some progress. My physical and mental health is only one aspect of my ideal diet and is not even the top priority. More important is the health of the plants, animals and humans that are involved in my diet directly and indirectly and the ecosystems in which they live. In short, the health of Earth and the life upon it is the top priority.

Here I share my ideal diet, with you in mind, starting with some basic tenets. This is my ideal, not what I consistently accomplish. However, I am usually within the realm of this ideal. My diet varies depending on the region in which I’m living or traveling and the focus of my passions.

A Brief Explanation of My Ideals

At my highest ideal, 100 percent of my food consists of food grown and foraged within my bioregion. This food is grown regeneratively and is completely unmonetized. A community exists around this food and I have a relationship with each plant and animal in my diet.

A scenario that I am quite content with given the balance of my other aspirations and priorities includes a substantial amount of food that I and my friends forage and grow. The vast majority of the food is local but nutrient-dense, concentrated items like dried herbs, spices, teas and grains, as well as oil; and come from other regions where it is in alignment with my ethos. All fruits, vegetables, fresh produce, meat, eggs and dairy are local and sustainably raised.

Bulk food sections at food co-ops or health food stores, farmers’ markets and farm stands play a central role when foraging and growing are not as prioritized. Absolutely no food, ingredient or “medicine” would enter my body if I don’t fully recognize it and understand it as food. Processing that enhances nutrition or naturally preserves food is the only processing that would take place.

Time efficiency, purchasing cost, ease of storage and enjoyability all play roles in selecting the individual foods. Diversity and aliveness are at the core of this diet. Strong flavors including bitters, sours, astringents and spiciness are part of the daily regimen.

Key Notes

• • Items marked with [^F] are always foraged or are almost always foraged,
  • with [^A] are listed specifically for low price and accessibility in bulk,
  • with [^C] are mostly sourced in the bulk section of the food co-op,
  • with [^H] are less ideal for health but are part of a relatively accessible/sustainable diet,
  • with [^Q] are flagged for not generally being able to source within my ethics or needing to be in the appropriate region,
  • with [^*] are less ideal for health, but I can easily forage in quantity,
  • with [^R] are more aspirational than reality at the time of this writing, but I do have experience with them.

Fruits and Vegetables

Fruits: a wide variety of fresh fruits with a focus on diversity of color. A priority for low glycemic fruits such as bramble berries, blueberries, mulberry and autumnberry. A balance of high-sugar fruits like bananas, mangoes and pawpaws^R. Bountiful citrus when in a citrus region. Lemons and limes^Q. Also dried fruits (raisins^A).

Vegetables: a wide variety of fresh vegetables, with strong, dark leafy greens making up a substantial proportion. Root veggies as a staple. Green powder as my go-to when I don’t have fresh greens. Seaweed^F is ideal, but I’m yet to make this a staple^R.

Starchy vegetables: sweet potatoes, winter squashes, cassava, taro/cana edulis^R, sunchoke^R, wapato^R, wild yam*. Potatoes as a last choice, unless heirloom variety.

Grains and Legumes

Grains^C: Manoomin^F, millet, tartary buckwheat, brown rice^A, oats^HA, all ancient grains, whole wheat flour, heirloom corn flour/masa, quinoa^Q. Bread only when it is sourdough/wild fermented, and in moderation^R.

Legumes^C: lentils, dal, split peas, chickpeas, etc. and heirloom soy fermented into nato, miso or tempeh.

Nuts and Seeds

Nuts: high fat nuts and easily accessible wild nuts. Foraged: hickory, black walnut, chestnut, coconut, hazelnut^R, acorn^R, pecan^R. Bulk at co-op^CQ: walnut^A, coconut shreds^A, macadamia, almond, pecan.

Seeds^C: flax^A, sesame^A, sunflower seeds^A, pumpkin seeds^A, chia, hemp.

Herbs, Spices and Herbal Teas

Herbs and spices: a wide variety of local herbs both fresh and dry and contentment with sourcing from the bulk section of the food co-op. I gravitate to many Indian spices, including curry powder. Cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom are a blend in my pantry, as well as an Italian spice mix. Fresh turmeric^Q, ginger^Q, garlic and onion are staples.

Herbal teas^C: daily herbal teas varying at different times of the year and for different health needs. Sourced by foraging, local herbalist or bulk food section of co-op. Medicinal mushroom tea is my current blend of foraged reishi, turkey tail, hen of the woods, chaga (and lion’s mane, if I find it).

Mushrooms

Mushrooms^F: a wide variety of edible mushrooms, usually foraged, but some farmed and always thoroughly cooked; eaten fresh or dehydrated.

Meat, Eggs, Dairy, Fat and Oil

Meat and food from animals: venison^F, wild animals sustainably harvested^F, grass-fed/pasture-raised beef, pork, goat, lamb, chicken. Organ meat, bone broth and fish broth. Fish^F, with an abundance of high fat fish such as mullet, trout, salmon, whitefish, mackerel^R, anchovies^R, sardines^R. A focus on fish lower in the food chain and younger fish. Cooking fats including cow fat, pig fat, bear fat^F, ghee and butter. Raw milk, raw yogurt and raw fermented cheese (the stinkier the better) made from A2/A2 dairy. Eggs from pasture-raised chickens.

Plant oils: olive^QA and coconut^QA as top choice from industry, hickory^F or acorn^F as top choice foraged, also avocado^Q.

Insects: wild rice grubs in ricing season^F and acorn grubs in the Fall^F. I’d like to eat more insects.

Ferments

Vinegar: apple cider vinegar and any fruit vinegars for incorporating into meals and swishing. Fire cider.

Ferments: a substantial amount of wild fermented veggies including lacto-fermented veggies, sauerkraut and kimchi. This incorporates a diversity of bacteria and yeast into the diet. Home-fermented beverages such as kombucha and jun, long-term fermented and drunk in moderation.

Sugar

Sugar: honey or maple syrup^F from within the region only, and used medicinally only and ideally fermented. (My sweet tooth is my greatest struggle, so this is an aspiration for me.)

Condiments

Condiments made from whole food ingredients, mustard being my most accessible. Salad dressing made of oil, vinegar and herbs.

More Notes

Some other foods I eat and love that are not necessary are dark chocolate^Q, stovetop popped popcorn^C, nutritional yeast^CQ, tamari/liquid aminos^CQ.

Other key aspects to this diet:

• Grains and legumes ideally soaked overnight (with a bit of ACV) and rinsed for digestibility. Some are ideally pressure cooked. Sprouted grains, legumes, nuts and seeds are wonderful.
• Pairing vinegar or lemon with my raw greens.
• Intermittent fasting (eight-hour window of eating, 16 hours of fasting).
• Day-long fasts weekly or at least monthly^R.
• Three-day fasts at each season^R.
• Breaks from carbs for several weeks at a time^R.
• When consuming sugar, eat a salad first, then fats and proteins, and lastly sugar with an acid^R.

Foods to avoid: ultra-processed, refined sugars, refined grains, refined oils, rancid oil, factory farmed foods. Also peanuts, but that is probably not happening anytime soon^R.

For all who share time with me, I invite you to help me live out these ideals. Also, if you invite me over to dinner, now you have some ideas for what to make.

The 100 Percent Local Diet: My list of the most accessible and likely ways to attain a fully localized diet.

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This article is an excerpt from Food Freedom: A Year of Growing and Foraging 100% of My Food. Food Freedom is an empowerment manual to break free from the destructive food system and live in closer harmony with Earth through growing food, foraging and embracing community.

We welcome you to order the paperback copy here or download the eBook here.

100% of profits, after book distribution, are donated to Gardens of Liberation, supporting Indigenous and Black-led food sovereignty initiatives.