I am not a foodie
How I'm using art to improve my relationship with cooking
My cooking journey
Let me start this with one of my most unpopular opinions: I am not a foodie.
I haven’t cooked much as an adult, I’m not a very adventurous eater (despite traveling to 20+ countries), I have that terrible cilantro gene, I’m vegetarian, and I eat the same thing several times a week.
But I am about to create a coloring book about food systems. My vision for this coloring book is to simultaneously learn, illustrate, and cook. Through this process, I will create an educational coloring book while improving my personal relationship with cooking. Win, win!
I promise I’m not going full on Julie and Julia on you (though I am obsessed with the movie). But I am thinking I’ll use art to share tidbits of this journey as a kitchen newb expanding her culinary horizons.
I think sharing the context of my current and past kitchen vibes might be helpful to kick us off.
Why I haven’t gotten comfy in the kitchen:
I don’t drink. A lot of my social activities revolve around food instead of alcohol.
I’m busy. Some days, I’m just wiped and I end up ordering more delivery food than I care to admit 😬
It takes me about 15 mins to walk to the grocery store. Not ideal with bags of heavy foods.
But I’m working on it folks! It’s a journey for a reason.
Action steps I’ve taken the past 2 years:
I tried 3 different meal kits
The goal wasn’t to use a meal kit forever (I hate the extra waste) but to make cooking part of my weekly routine. I found temporary but not lasting success.
I worked with a nutritionist
She gave me some ideas that were useful, but still didn’t feel like I got in the groove of consistent cooking.
I’ve watched a bunch of YouTube videos.
Y’all, you can learn so much from YouTube. Watching cooking videos is so calming and meal prep videos are shockingly helpful.
This brings me to my current mindset.
Action steps I’ve taken this month:
I just finished reading How to Be a Conscious Eater by Sophie Egan (and had an amazing call with her!). I’m currently reading Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan.
I’ve watched several food documentaries including We Feed People, You are What You Eat and Live to 100.
I started a crowd-sourced Google Sheet about Food Systems that now has 75 resources on it (add your own ideas here!).
Consuming this new knowledge of food systems has immediately changed what I consume. Within the past 1.5 weeks, I’ve cooked more than I did the 2 months before. I made a vegetarian chili, 2 tofu and broccoli stir fries, vegetarian burritos, and lentil, sweet potato, and carrot soup!
As I continue to absorb this new info, it’s been amazing inspiration for new types of art.
First up, I started a mini-series called “What I Compost in a Week” where people send me photos of their compost bins and I turn them into art. It’s an effort to raise awareness about how the NY compost program is in jeopardy of being shut down and ways we can take action to save it.
Send me a photo of your compost and I can turn it into art!
I have so many ideas for this coloring book (and I already have about 8 pages started). If you want to get on the waitlist for when it launches, fill out this form here!
I’m excited to continue to share updates along this journey! If you know anyone who is in the food systems world that wants to chat, I’d love to meet more folks in the space.
Now my question to you is: what do you want to see in this book?
Ways to support me:
I miss working with a team! I’d like to start working with a climate startup 5-10 hours per week. I’m looking for contract work related to climate communications, marketing, or design. Shoot me a message if you or someone you know needs an extra set of hands!
Buy my coloring book or something from my shop- a mug, a onesie, a print.
I’m open for commissions. I help climate organizations simplify their complicated messaging into visuals anyone can understand.
