What are Traditional Foods?

It's amazing how many sites and blogs are dedicated to traditional foods. Lately, I've had folks asking me what 'traditional foods' really are. I usually say they're foods your grandparents or in some cases, great grandparents would eat. Raw milk, fresh eggs, etc that lack today's processing. I found this lovely summary of traditional foods from the Traditional Foods Guild.


What Are Traditional Foods?

Traditional foods ARE the foods that our ancestors ate.

Traditional foods ARE the foods available to our grandparents and great grandparents, before modern processing.

Traditional foods ARE often referred to as ‘real food’ and ‘slow food’.

Traditional foods ARE delicious, full of diverse and naturally occurring flavors.

Traditional foods PROMOTE health and vitality and protect us from disease.

Traditional foods OFFER nutrients needed for healthy conception, pregnancy, growing infants and children

These ARE foods grown on small to medium-scale, organic farms or ethically wild-gathered from largely local sources.

Animals ARE cared for with traditional and humane husbandry techniques and fed their natural food diets.

Traditional foods ARE nutrient-dense.

Traditional foods ARE foods prepared in ways that maximize nutrients & digestibility.

They ARE prepared in ways that anyone with home kitchen tools could do.

Traditional prepared foods ARE composed of recognizable food ingredients and generally few.

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Traditional foods ARE NOT new, industrial, machine-made foods that were not available to our ancestors. Industrial foods displace traditional foods in modern commerce. Industrial foods are have few or synthetic nutrients and promote modern ailments

Traditional foods ARE NOT foods grown on large scale and industrially managed farms.

They ARE NOT food grown with chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

They ARE NOT from animals or fish that have been industrially raised in inhumane conditions and fed foods that are not natural to their species.

They ARE NOT foods that are transported over long distances when similar foods are available locally.

Traditional foods ARE NOT industrially prepared foods.

Traditional foods DO NOT have ‘empty’ calories nor synthetic vitamins added.

Traditional foods ARE NOT foods that are processed in a way to unnaturally alter or preserve foods.

They ARE NOT foods that have been processed with solvents, high heat, irradiated or otherwise treated in factory machines. They DO NOT have any chemical additives, flavors or preservatives.

They DO NOT have large ingredient lists composed of unfamiliar or chemical items.

From Traditional Nutrition Guild