Eating Who I Want to Be
new concept. same deliciousness. join me in this new approach to food.
Kia ora newsletter whānau!!!! It’s been a few weeks since my last entry hit your inboxes, and I trust that the peak of summer has seen you eating bowlfuls of sunshine and feeling all of the good vibes the golden season has to offer. Looking back at how I left you hanging for 2023, I enthusiastically signed off with these words:
“I am so excited to write and share more of myself and my food with you in the new year”……………………………..
And here we are. A new year (but same old me), and I can confirm that I’m more excited than EVER! to share more of myself and my food with you. I had teased that my newsletter would look a little different upon its return - still packed with the same mouthwatering seasonal recipe inspiration that you’ve all stuck around for, but with a different narrative, a journey that I wanted you to join me for. So, after all that cryptic nonsense, I introduce to you the new concept for my recipe newsletter.
Eating Who I Want to Be
For years I’ve been a champion for developing a positive relationship between the food you eat, your body, and mind. A philosophy shaped by my own food journey, medical experiences/knowledge, and the wisdom of those around me. I believe Eating Well is more than just a ‘healthy’ diet; it’s forming edible connections through whenua, whānau, and self to promote the hauora (wellbeing) of all. From tuning in to how food makes you feel, to eating with your planet and local community in mind, to baking a cake for your neighbour or cooking an absolute feast with your mates, that is what Eating Well looks like for me.
I’ve been thinking for some time how best to package my philosophy of Eating Well into something more digestible. More relatable. More transferable. As I realise that what Eating Well looks like for me, will be different to what Eating Well looks like for YOU ~ as we all have our own unique food story, shaped by our culture, environment and life journey. Food is such a personal thing. So after a sizeable dollop of thought coupled with a jugful of indecision, I’ve landed on a new concept, my new approach to food, what this newsletter will be all about: Eating Who I Want to Be
Why Eating Who I Want to Be?
Just as what we eat unquestionably affects how we feel (as well as our physical wellbeing), the reciprocal is also true: how we are feeling, our mental state, attitudes and experiences impact our food choices. It’s an equilibrium of self and environment that fluctuates with the pull of daily life. And from the marketing team for the supermarket duopoly to your work colleague’s not-asked-for opinion about your weight, our food choices are chronically influenced by others. Eating Who I Want to Be is about taking back your food autonomy. It’s about values-based eating, asking yourself, “who do I want to be?”, from the physical/emotional (mind + body) to your alignment with your community and planet ~ and eating in harmony with this.
After writing this newsletter for a year, with a real focus on flavour and seasonal cooking, I sat down to brainstorm how I could take it in a new and improved direction. And I realised two things:
I wanted my food writing to be more personal
I wanted my food writing to have greater meaning.
So what I did is I wrote down what I wanted my food writing and recipes to be. When I leaned back from what I’d written, I realised that the words on the page were more than just what I wanted to cook or eat. Perhaps this was my weird, abstract mind, but it also read as a list of personal qualities that I aspired to be. So I then tried to do the reverse, writing down my values, considering Who I Want to Be, and the similarities in the lists were uncanny. In fact my list of values gave me even more inspiration for ideas to add to my list of foodie ambitions.
The most impactful, positive and lasting change in oneself comes from within; if your eating is driven by your own values, then you’re setting yourself up to thrive. As such, it’s my list of personal goals/values that have formed the foundation, the master stock or flavour palette, of this newsletter.
Alby Hailes’ Eating Who I Want to Be List:
Be Authentic
use fresh, real ingredients wherever possible - reduce use of ultra-processed foods
always try to cook things from scratch (where time/money allows) - so I know exactly what is going into what I eat
gather/purchase ingredients as close to the source as possible (ie homegrown, locally grown/produced, foraged) - so I can see/hear what has gone into producing my food
Be Relatable/Approachable
write recipes that are more approachable for the everyday home cook ~ practical, time-friendly and using accessible ingredients
always consider the cost of living, and write recipes that are relatively affordable
remain aware of the global/social context and reflect on this where appropriate
better understand my audience - get feedback, and share recipes, research and writings that will be interesting and educational for them
Be Fearless/Brave
try new flavours/ingredients
lean more into cultures whose cooking practices are more foreign to me
try new cooking techniques I haven’t tried before
share more of my personal story in my food writing
Connect with Community
eat and cook more with friends and whānau
when purchasing produce from local growers, market gardeners etc., speak to them about their work to develop a better understanding of and connection with the local food systems
talk more about local community gardens, CSA (community supported agriculture), and connect more with this aspect of our food system
run cooking workshops/classes
connect more with other food writers, do more shout outs about their amazing work!
connect more with followers through newsletter, social media etc. and keep people interested and engaged
Be Planet-Conscious (and connect more with the whenua)
eat a more plant-based, planet-friendly diet
reduce food waste
reduce consumption of packaged and ultra-processed foods
write recipes that utilise ingredients with a smaller footprint where possible
eat more homegrown kai
eat seasonally! Look to improve others’ knowledge on how to eat seasonally and the benefits of this - and let my recipes reflect this.
Learn & Be Curious
read more non-fiction books about our food systems, history and future
follow up-to-date research around nutritional psychiatry and incorporate this in my newsletter and food writing
be on-the-pulse of global food news/trends, and share these with my food community
learn new skills from other chefs/food writers ~ always be looking to grow as a cook ~ to then better inform the recipes I share with my community
Keep Things Simple (but also keep things interesting)
eat more simply - when writing recipes, try to reduce the number of ingredients where possible (for me this is a tough one LOL) and focus on quality not complexity
be more versatile with similar ingredients, develop a capsule pantry
Have Fun
cook more for pleasure & cook from my cookbook collection
more dancing in the kitchen and play music at full noise
bake for no reason at all
Be Delicious Always (this one doesn’t need explaining.. and yes, I also want to be a delicious person!)
So that’s what this newsletter is all about. It’s taking you with me on my own journey of Eating Who I Want to Be. The recipes, ideas and foodful content is all informed by this list of my own values and goals, translated into food. Some may be similar, others wildly different from your own. But my hope is that it brings fresh inspiration to your kitchen, new ideas for feel-good food, and encourages you to ask yourself the question: am I Eating Who I Want to Be?
Scroll down for my brief ‘How To’ guide on Eating Who I Want to Be ~ and have a go at creating your own list of values to inform your eating. You won’t regret it.
What do I get in each newsletter?
Eating Who I Want to Be will be delivered direct to your email inbox every couple of weeks on Sunday morning 9am NZ time ~ perfect timing for kitchen inspiration as you look to the week ahead.
Each newsletter will have a particular theme/focus, in keeping with my values for Eating Who I Want to Be
Free Subscribers:
Brand new fortnightly brand new recipes that are simple, seasonal, delicious and affordable. PLUS access to my full Substack recipe/newsletter archive (trust me, it’s worth it!).
each recipe will be made with 15 or less ingredients (excluding salt, pepper, water & frying oil)
recipes will be focused around seasonal ingredients, and include ideas for leftover, storage, make-ahead ideas etc.
all savoury recipes will be very vegetable-forward, and both sweet & savoury recipes will lean into plant-based cooking
each recipe will have an estimated hands-on/cooking time (aiming to be on the table in 90 minutes or less)
each recipe will have an approximate cost based on up-to-date NZ pricings
Links to articles of interest, including new food trends, food news, environment-food developments, and other food-related content (include NZ-specific event info etc.)
Advice & ideas on how you can eat better for the planet, including tips on reducing food waste, reducing processed & packaged food consumption and more!
Seasonal produce recommendations and advice on how to get the most out of your produce
Insight into the latest research on the relationship between nutrition and mental health, as well as discussion from yours truly on my own opinions on how eating choices affect how we feel
Possible guest appearances from other Aotearoa food writers
The ability to post comments and join the Eating Who I Want to Be community - including access to any threads/discussions and input to help guide the future of this newsletter
I’ve also returned to my psychiatry training this year. It’s been 18 months since I took a break from full-time doctoring, and while I’m optimistic about my return and motivated to learn and work in healthcare again, this is mixed with plenty of trepidation and anxiety. So on occasion, I’ll be sharing a little on the seasons of my own wellbeing while working in mental health.
By now you’ve hopefully got the gist of what this blimmin’ fantastically epic newsletter is all about, and why you should tell every person you meet this week they need to sign up for it. Here’s to a year of food content that’s Authentic, Approachable, Fearless, Community-Minded, Planet-Conscious, Educational, Simple-yet-Interesting, Fun, and most importantly, Delicious!
Look out for the newsletter in your inbox next Sunday…
Much love,
Alby xx
How To: Eating Who I Want to Be
A guide to creating your own list of values and goals, to inform your eating & cooking
First you must consider ‘Who I Want to Be’. This might seem outside the box, but ask yourself:
What are my values? What sort of person do I want to be? How do I want to be perceived? What/who do I care about?
a great way of doing this is using a framework, such as Mason Durie’s Te Whare Tapa Whā, to consider who you want to be in each facet of your life, including tinana (physical), hinengaro (emotional), whānau (local/global community, family, friends), wairua (spiritual) and also whenua (land, planet, environment).
Next, assess, how are my food choices aligned with this? How do my eating behaviours fit with the person I want to be?
Start brainstorming how you can try to eat in a way that’s in keeping with your own values. Think about small practical day-to-day steps you could take to achieve this.
Begin to implement some of these changes in your eating, and see how it fuels you to become ‘Who I Want to Be’.
An Example of Using These Steps (from my own list above):
One of my values is Be Planet-Conscious
I try to grow some of my own food to reduce the carbon footprint of the produce I eat and do regular composting with organic waste. but I do rely heavily on supermarkets for many of my ingredients and often purchase packaged, and sometimes highly processed goods, but attempt to always recycle hard/soft plastics where possible. The planet and our environment is important to me, but this isn’t always at the forefront of my eating choices.
I should buy more locally to further reduce my food footprint - get all my produce from local growers (where affordable, which when eating seasonally is!) rather than leaning on the supermarkets for convenience. Eat more of a plant-based diet ~ and this will be reflected in my recipes. I should make a conscious effort to purchase less products with packaging (ie vegetable stock!). I should try to have more of an emphasis on fresh ingredients for my recipes to reduce their footprint.
I have started to make my own vegetable stock again this week (more on this in an upcoming newsletter).