PINKFARM | Guest Interview with Amanda & Tanya from Pinkfarm | Part 1
Bio (a little about your health journeys so far)
PINKY
Becoming a mother four years ago was my inspiration to embark on a conscious food journey. This started as a very bumpy road; one with twists, turns, potholes and speed bumps but recently has become smoother and with direction. Growing up, I had very little connection to food in a cultural sense. I can remember dinnertime battles and my food repertoire was very limited. I was a sugar baby, a sugar child. My addiction to sugar was one I was completely unaware of. It was where the bar was set as my normal. My physique didn’t notice all of the sugar I consumed and neither did I.I valued exercise as the authority; the be all and end all to health. I have been working out in a gym, committed to weight and strength training for over twenty years and in recent years only realised the connection between food and health as the key factor. My Dads diagnosis with cancer 12 years ago was the start of this understanding. I began madly researching and looking into ways that I could help him through diet and nutritional supplements. I was a novice and I felt overwhelmed and shocked to learn how toxic food could be. This was the first awakening I had that food could be friend of foe, medicine or poison. I quickly learned about sugar and its devastating effects on the body but didn’t address or even realise my own struggles with sugar at that time. I developed a love for cooking with wholefood ingredients after an inspirational trip to Thailand. I loved the experimentation of cooking with new flavours and creating gourmet meals. I generally thought I was doing really well, using fresh ingredients, eating everything in moderation however; my sugar addiction still lingered as I consumed sweets every day. After having my son I had committed myself to providing he and I nourishing real foods. However, it was his struggle with mysterious skin rashes when he was a baby that drove me to finally see and accept that my sugar addiction was now affecting someone else. This had to stop. And thankfully after quitting refined sugar it did. Quitting sugar was the start of a very powerful learning curve about gut health. After numerous visits to many different medical practitioners regarding the multitude of skin rashes we walked away each time disheartened by the lack of answers and the attempts to falsely reassure us that this was a normal part of childhood! Normal? Not for us. There was no way we were going to accept this warped sense of normality. After reading Dr Natasha Campbell McBrides book, Gut and Psychology Syndrome we quickly learnt that gut health was the key to our health and health of our children and future generations. Understanding the importance of gut health was the switch that brought light to many questions we never had answers for (Source). Over the past four years my food journey has accelerated and has taken a conscious path to specific destinations where I see light at the end of the tunnel. The road is smoother but there are many fuel stops (lots of learning) needed along the way, speed bumps (ideas which still challenge me) and not to mention an inspirational convoy (my food loving community).I could never be where I am though without my friend Tan, (Farmer). Our friendship is vast having known each other for almost 25 years but is now deeper than ever through our connection with real food. We continue to learn together and question together; challenge, motivate and inspire each other and we love sharing our journeys together on Pinkfarm with the hope that wherever you are on your food journey you can be inspired too.
FARMER
I live on a small farm in Far North Queensland on the beautiful Atherton Tablelands. My great-grandparents, grandparents and parents are born and bred farmers here. I feel a deep connection with the land and especially this place I call home; the place where I came to learn of the relationship between earth, food, family & body. These are my roots. As a midwife & mother for 15 years, food and health have always been an integral part of my lifelong passions for birth, babies and nutrition. I give thanks to the men, women, babies, midwives and my own husband, children & family for all they have given to me. Without these people I would not have the deep understanding of what my heart yearns for and who I am. I love and I care for human life. I aspire for everyone to reach their potential in health and happiness. I accept that I am responsible for my health and my childrens health. My choices reflect that. The knowledge and choices I have made along my journey have evolved and continue to evolve with inspiration from my family, my community and my inner passion for nourishing the body. My food journey will continue on this exciting adventure as I build on the knowledge and experience I have gained thus far. My children are my inspiration to improve and maintain a healthy lifestyle of which food choices are a major part. However, when I think back to where my interest in health and healing with food began, it goes way back to my childhood. My Aunty had Breast Cancer and I remember her eating all of these different, healthy foods which she had learnt to be healing for Cancer. I found that so interesting. I had never related food to health before, let alone curing an illness. Discovering the difference between real food and unreal food was the real beginning of my food journey. When I met my husband, I was intrigued at how he suffered with migraines all his life with no explanation other than medication. I questioned this. Was this right? Surely there was another answer to avoiding this debilitating problem. Inspired by our naturopath friend, we investigated the migraines further and found that if we eliminated certain foods, his migraines reduced in number and severity. The results were amazing. We soon learnt that what we ate, had a powerful effect on our body. I embarked on another steep learning curve in my real food journey, when at the age of 23, I had a scare with pre-cancerous cells detected in my body. This scared me deeply. I was young. It was a high priority for me to be a mum in the future. This experience inspired me to find out more about food and what I could feed my body to discourage this abnormal cell growth again. By the time I had my first child (14 years ago) I was dedicated to my family’s health and what we ate. I knew that food mattered and what I fed my children mattered. It mattered a lot. Since then, my food journey has been one of challenges, trials and growth as my family extended to 5 children with the youngest now 3 years old. I have gone forward, digressed and even turned a full circle at times. In the past 5 years my food Journey has progressed exponentially as a result of sharing a reciprocal passion for nourishing foods with my lifelong friend Pinky, as we joined forces in motherhood for the 1st and 5th time. I give thanks to Pinky & D for being a part of my life and my journey with food, life and wellbeing. The creation of Pinkfarm has resulted from this journey of inspiration and the kindred spirit of two friends sharing a passion. Pinkfarm is a place to share experiences and knowledge, whilst believing in the bodys ability to heal, nourish and nurture with Real Food.
Seeing as most people begin the day with breakfast can you share with us the famous Pinkfarm Royal Breakfast, what are the criteria for this and can you give us some of the rationale behind it?
We highly prioritise eating breakfast like a king and doing so has changed our lives in more ways than one. So what is a Royal Breakfast? It looks much like dinner, is high in saturated fat, contains animal protein, a large serving of green vegetables and includes a side of raw and fermented vegetables. The rationale behind starting the day this way has evolved over time. Initially motivated by a suggested from Pinkys personal trainer and Farmers quest to move from grain based breakfasts the rationale is now driven by how we feel (more stable moods, satiated for longer, no sweet cravings, more energy and less need for snacking) and backed up by science.
We loved learning the science behind feeling this way. Starting the day with protein and fat: Boosts energising neurotransmitters Acetylcholine and Dopamine. Acetylcholine and Dopamine are neurotransmitters responsible for providing us mental clarity, focus and brain function.The neurotransmitter Dopamine is synthesised from Tyrosine found in high protein foods and it is Dopamine that gives us the ability to focus and improves mental clarity and drive. Acetylcholine is also boosted by eating protein and this in turn enhances memory and brain function.
Helps the body heal and repair
Supplies the body with amino acids which help stabilise blood sugar and reduce carbohydrate cravings
Keeps us satiated.
Assists in the absorption of essential Vitamins and Minerals from the other foods on the plate (particularly green vegetables)
Gives an efficient energy source keeping us going for longer. Fat is like fuelling the fire with a log rather than kindling which is like constantly eating carbohydrates.
Maintains blood sugar levels throughout the day keeping our moods more balanced
Curbs cravings for sweet foods
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Who are some of the people who have had the most influence in shaping your philosophy around food and health?
Sally Fallon, author of Nourishing Traditions introduced us to traditional food principals and this was consolidated when we read Nina Plancks Real Food. We began to put these ideas into practise continuing read more of Weston A Prices seminal research and shortly Dr Natasha Campbell McBrides book, Gut and Psychology Syndrome. It was during this time when we were experiencing mysterious skin rashes in our two boys that we explored gut health more and embraced and committed ourselves to this way of life. Amongst our learnings Jude Blereaus work was encouraging and inspirational.
Can you share with all the parents out there some suggestions when introducing solid food to their babies?
We believe the introduction of solids has a huge influence on the palate, eating habits and gut health throughout childhood and beyond. We feel it is more than just nutrition but also about texture, smell, hand eye coordination and learning family etiquette and the joy of food. This is why we prefer meals as a family and finger foods for babies over anything pureed. We wanted our children to be introduced to foods in their original form, not mixed together or blended up to a mush of the unknown. This encourages the development for taste buds and recognition and appreciation of individual foods right from the start. We also tried to avoid too much fruit at the start as this can develop a sweet tooth. Egg yolk, bone broth and liver are the most nourishing first foods for babies. Unfortunately we learnt about this a few months too late and began introducing these to our children when they were around 9 months old. Beverages were always water but around one, we introduced kefir and a little later kombucha. We wanted our children to always turn to water first. Another huge learning curve for us was understanding that feeding our children started with ourselves. We had to resolve our own issues around food to be able to instill a healthy diet in our children. This meant for Pinky recovering from a sugar addiction and for both of us, getting over our ick factor with organ meats and bone broth. It is now that we have worked through and continue to work through our own issues that our children can embrace new foods without judgement.
STAY TUNED FOR PART 2...Pinkfarm can be found at
w:: http://www.pinkfarm.com.au/