Nutrition in action
'We can sit and talk about food, or we can go and get it.' A personalised supermarket trip with naturopath Bryn Robertson.
Nau mai, haere mai. Welcome to The Boil Up, The Spinoff’s weekly food newsletter presented in partnership with Farro. Written by me, Lucinda Bennett. I hope you’re hungry!
Food media rarely mentions health, and if it does, it’s usually because it’s the kind of food media that’s only about health. I was therefore surprised and appreciative when in the first episode of Ate Ate Ate – the detailed, thought-provoking new food and culture podcast hosted by Jean Teng and Sam Low – Sam spoke candidly about food fears and weight gain, divulging that while he cooks luxuriously for friends and on Instagram, this is balanced by personal eating habits focused on batch cooked proteins and steamed vegetables.
This got me thinking about how much of my own food research and chat is actually about nutrition. I always want my kai to be delicious, but as someone who also lives with chronic illness, what I eat can have a direct effect on my levels of pain, and so I am always seeking information about food as medicine.
By far my favourite source of information is my thoughtful, knowledgeable friend Bryn (@inspiringwellnessquote). Bryn has spent most of their adult life working various hospo roles in LA while also operating their own seasonal side hustles, variously making, selling and trading cold-pressed juice, kombucha, raw cheesecakes and herbal infused lip balms. In recent years, they’ve been doing all of the above while also studying towards a Bachelor of Natural Medicine, something that felt like a natural step given the skills they already possessed. “It’s something I’ve been doing since I was a kid — making potions, food, sibling first aid — but it’s taken some time to embrace it fully. I feel like I’m coming out as a naturopath.”
Now in their final year of study, they’ve come back to Aotearoa to work with real life clients and experiment with their offerings beyond the expected clinic consultations, given their particular interest in accessibility and empowerment. One such service is a guided supermarket trip in which Bryn would accompany their client to the place they usually shop, offering personalised advice while they fill the trolley. “I want the skills of nutrition to be realistic and make sense for people. We can sit and talk about food, or we can go and get it. Things are different when you’re shopping so doing the learning where people shop makes a lot of sense to me.”
And so on a sunny Wednesday afternoon we headed to Pak’nSave with a goal of learning more about nutritious, affordable kai. Below is a selection of information and tips gleaned from my personalised tour which will be applicable for just about anyone.
Produce: I tell Bryn I have a bias against supermarket fruit and veg, finding it’s usually more expensive and lower quality than the markets or local grocer. When it comes to freshness, their advice is to use your eyes and your nose: does it look fresh and perky? Does it smell grassy or is there a whiff of rot? They lift a box of sad looking mushrooms and we fill our bags with the pearly white ones hidden beneath – “you want as little brown on the end as possible, that shows it’s been freshly cut.” And did you know you can – and should – charge your mushrooms? “It’s hard to get vitamin D from the sun during winter, and when mushrooms are put in the sun they make vitamin D just like us! Putting them out for 15 minutes before you cook them massively increases their vitamin D content.”
Yoghurt: Is it okay that I eat so much yoghurt? Bryn says if you can tolerate dairy, yes – it’s full of gut-loving probiotics! When I explain how horrified I am by the amount of plastic Gopala containers my yoghurt habit causes me to accumulate, they suggest I try making my own using milk and a few spoons of store-bought yoghurt or probiotic capsules. “It’s cheaper, and it’s a great way to demystify food processes. I got into nutrition through cooking and eventually learned that if I look at it and can’t begin to understand how I would make it, it’s probably not good for me.”
Fibre: Oats are amazing, they’re so cheap and packed with soluble and insoluble fibre. Buy in bulk!
Oils: Bryn picks up a bottle of The Good Oil from the shelf and shows me how the packaging points to precisely where in Aotearoa the ingredients were grown. “It’s made here, so it’ll be fresh, and it’s cold-pressed.” But shouldn’t I be using olive oil? Gesturing to the rows of yellow oil, Bryn explains “this is all imported, and it shouldn’t be kept in clear bottles. You can tell from the colour and texture that it’s not fresh. Sunflower oil isn’t the Mediterranean diet dream, but it’s good to loosen those ties to specific ingredients. Fresher oil is always going to be tastier, too.”
Maple syrup: Should I buy maple syrup? It’s so expensive but it’s in all the healthy baking recipes. “I just read the chapter on maple in Braiding Sweetgrass (a book about plants by renowned Indigenous scientist Robin Wall Kimmerer) and now I understand the cost – it takes so much time and care to harvest, it’s precious. It should be treated as a special ingredient, like vanilla.”
Snacks: I’ve heard muesli bars are basically as unhealthy as chocolate bars. Is this true? “Pretty much,” Bryn says. “No muesli bar is ever going to be better than a handful of nuts – they’re usually over-engineered and packed with sugar.” What about lollies and chippies, do I need to avoid this aisle? “It depends on your goals. Ideally, snack foods are social foods. You share a bag of chips and dip with friends while you’re doing things together – that’s better than finishing a pack by yourself while you’re watching reality TV” (we both definitely do this).
New season fruit and veg is cropping up at Farro!
Unearth our beautiful selection of fresh autumn produce! From the jumbo ’joas you’ve been waiting for, to a menagerie of mushrooms; all sourced fresh from the morning markets and whisked straight to Farro for that just-picked taste. Our seasonal selection ensures you're always tasting the best of nature's bounty, while supporting local growers and snagging some of the best produce prices in Tāmaki Makaurau.
Weekly bites
Macadamia nuts may not be traditional kai Māori, but founder Vanessa Hayes and the community at Tōrere Macadamias are showing how Indigenous farming principles and kaitiakitanga can be used to grow an orchard – and a thriving business. Tommy de Silva’s recent article explores what this looks like in action, from decades of research and experimentation to discover which varieties worked best for Aotearoa to sponsoring a PhD project studying potential uses for macadamia husks and shells in an effort to limit waste and emissions.
Is anyone else haunted by images of the Kardashians’ various pantries and refrigerators? From Kim’s mausoleum of packaged snacks to Kris’s display of green produce in her glass fridge, these spaces are so sanitised and aestheticised that they feel utterly removed from the messy, gurgly, human desire for sustenance and satiation. As it turns out, this is not just a kooky Kardashian thing – there is an epidemic of excessively organised kitchens proliferating across the internet and it is in this sea of single-purpose containers that I found this Eater article to be a lifeline – reminding us that it’s OK if you aren’t storing your hummus next to your orchid.
“Everything you see, I owe to spaghetti.” So said noted beauty, Sofia Loren, and is it turns out, she wasn’t wrong. In a recent article for The Sydney Morning Herald, writer Hattie Garlick unpacks how eating pasta may actually be good for you – with the caveat that it is done as part of a Mediterranean diet rich in fresh vegetables, fruit, legumes and whole grains.
Join The Spinoff members, now with comments
Spinoff members are now able to comment on certain stories. It’s another way for us to bring to life the value of belonging to the community of Spinoff supporters. I explain why we’re doing this here, and if I ever publish another big food ranking, you have my permission to give me your worst. It’s just one of the perks of being a Spinoff supporter. Today you can also chime in on:
Tommy de Silva’s utopian dream of how good Tāmaki Makaurau could be in 2074.
Help Me Hera’s sage advice to someone who can’t decide whether or not to go to mime school in France.
Log in, let us know what you think, and as always, we’d be grateful if you’d consider becoming a Spinoff supporter if you’re not already.
See you in the comments,
– Madeleine Chapman, editor
Snack of the week
Veesey Kiwi Onion Creamy Dip 150g for $5.99 from New World
Where else in the world can you show up to a party with what looks like the dregs of the emergency kit five days after a natural disaster and be met with enthusiasm? Luscious with reduced cream and MSG, kiwi onion dip is a classic for a reason – so much so that Peter Gordon used to serve it up at his fine dining restaurant alongside creamed paua and frybread, and Air New Zealand is now serving a dish inspired by the dip as part of its new premium menu.
Despite its low price point (a packet of Onion Soup Mix is currently $1.29 and can of reduced cream $2.99 at Pak’nSave), the dip has been inaccessible to a certain sector of society for some time – namely vegans and the lactose intolerant. Enter Veesey Kiwi Onion Creamy Dip, a premade approximation of the original that uses, among other ingredients, coconut cream, faba bean protein and yeast extract to mimic its patriotic creamy umami. As a non-vegan, lactose-tolerant person, I had no real need for Veesey, but someone did recommend it and an Easter weekend camping trip with a vegan friend seemed the perfect opportunity to give it a whirl. Judging by sight, the advertised creaminess is more in the sense of a creamy mayo than a cream or cheese based dip. On first taste, the texture was pleasantly smooth and fatty, although I was slightly taken aback by an unexpected vinegary overtone, yet as I continued dipping and crunching, I found this acidity a pleasant foil to the saltiness of my chips, if a little one dimensional. Where was the funk, the saltiness and rich mouthfeel I expect from my KOD? I can only assume the lack of MSG was responsible for this sense of something missing. I love yeast (really – try putting some nutritional yeast in your next coleslaw), but it doesn’t pack the punch of flavour enhancer 621. I’m going to have to give this a 6/10 – but for the those who can’t partake of the original national dip, this might be a 10.
Mā te wā,
Lucinda
A another great and informative read, thanks