fes·ti·val

[fes-tuh-vuhl] http://dictionary.reference.com/help/luna/Spell_pron_key.htmlShow IPA

Noun

1. A day or time of religious or other celebration, marked by feasting, ceremonies, or other observances: the festival of Christmas; a Roman festival.
2. A periodic commemoration, anniversary, or celebration: an annual strawberry festival.
3. A period or program of festiveactivities, cultural events, or entertainment: a music festival.
4. Gaiety; revelry; merrymaking.

Adjective

5. Festal: a festival atmosphere of unrestrained joy.

Food is a naturally festive thing. If you think about it, many of the festive occasions we celebrate throughout the year include festive meals like Christmas and New Year, Easter, Epiphany on the 6^th of January, and Shrove Tuesday in February, which is celebrated by eating pancakes, or Halloween with all is sweetness and spookiness.

In many European countries like France, Spain and Italy, a celebration without food is unthinkable and there are many such occasions throughout the year. And so, here too in New Zealand, we have our traditions and rituals around food and celebration.

Thanks to our diverse, multi-cultural mix we now enjoy celebrating Chinese New Year and Pasifika, Diwali – the Festival of Light, and next week, Matariki, our native winter solstice. None of these significant events in a year would be complete without food.

Aside from religious festivals, we use food to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries too, special occasions like christenings and confirmations, weddings, births and even funerals. Whenever, and wherever we have a special occasion, food is never very far from our thoughts especially when it comes to families.

So where does this tradition come from?

The word Feast first appeared in language around the thirteenth century and while exact feasting origins are unclear, long before that families and community celebrated feast days. Offering a sense of belonging, providing entertainment, celebrating seasonal changes and harvest bounty, feasts, festivals, fetes, fiestas, gatherings and get-togethers, whatever you care to call them, were and are, a time for sharing, goodwill and celebration.

On our home turf, being a relatively young culture we have tended to adopt European festive foods and habits to celebrate festivals and religious holidays, baking Hot Cross Buns at Easter time, eating Turkey and hams at Christmas, scoffing down Trifle and Mince tarts.

When I was growing up in my Pakeha community in Wellington, a Hangi was a rare thing but now we can experience this amazing communal feasting tradition more often, especially when visiting a Marae, and we can even buy Hangi Take Out!

As our culinary horizons have widened, and with the influx of a broader cultural mix, our food experiences have expanded and so have our tastes and waistlines. Where once we celebrated an occasion with roast lamb, mint sauce and Pavlova with lashings of cream, it’s now more common to see the barbeque being fired up to cook a marinated, butter-flied leg of lamb with fresh salads and new potatoes, and naturally something sweet to finish like a fresh tropical fruit salad.

But as we have become more prosperous and processed foods much more readily available, celebration is becoming much more of a daily ritual. Our waistlines are expanding and our wellbeing is deteriorating as a consequence.

Diabetes is now epidemic in this country especially amongst young people, and we are sadly, number three in the world obesity statistics. Is this because food is more widely available? It certainly isn’t getting any cheaper.

Instead of that festive Sunday picnic at the beach with the family, it’s easier to go out for a quick meal, grab a carb-loaded morning tea with coffee, or fetch Take Out home and sit on the couch to watch TV. Are we eating our way to ill health while we celebrate?

I’m certainly not suggesting we stop celebrating or being festive, far from it. If anything we need to take more time to celebrate life and each other.

It’s more about the choices we make, being mindful around how we choose to include foods when we celebrate, and get moving!

There’s nothing wrong about having a festive outing to the park with the kids to celebrate a birthday or anniversary. And if we are going to indulge in some high energy foods, then the park or the beach is an opportunity to work off that energy intake with games and pastimes that leave us enriched with smiles on our faces.

Make informed food choices for you and your loved ones. Choose quality lean proteins, either animal or plant-based, whole grains, nuts, seeds and vegetables, instead of a Big Mac and fries or Wendy burger.

Hold back on the sodas and fizzy drinks, they are literally making us sick. Make water your favourite drink and have lots of it. Do have some sweet treats. Just be smart about it. Opt for fruit, fruit-based desserts and hold off on high sugar, processed cakes, sweets and pastries. If you must go in that direction these kinds of foods need to be enjoyed occasionally as opposed to daily or weekly.

Watch that alcohol consumption, studies are now showing us that even mild alcohol consumption is a contributing factor to certain cancers, especially for women.

Poach, steam, bake or grill, reduce your consumption of starchy carbs – rice, pasta, bread and potatoes for 2 weeks and see how you feel. Create a celebration around an activity like walking or an outdoor pursuit.

Make your daily ritual of breakfast and evening meals together as a family a festival, at the table, with the TV off, whenever you can. Conviviality and celebration enhance the all-important process of digestion and you are less inclined to eat as much.

Celebrate life by making smarter food choices and you’ll be around to enjoy the festivities, and your loved ones, a lot longer!

Sarah La Touche is a registered Holistic Nutritionist, and a member of the New Zealand Clinical Nutritionists Association.

She also runs walking tours in France and Spain. The forthcoming tour is walking the Camino del Norte from San Sebastian to Bilbao in September.

She is available to see clients for nutritional consultations and advice by phoning 027 315 1165 or email sarah@livingnutrition.co.nz.

To find out about the walking tours go to www.foodiesinfrance.com or email ds@foofiesinfrance.com