Unpackaged
Joy Speer, 2, has flour all over her face and dress while making pizza dough with her mother and brother.
Two-year-old Joy Speer takes her turn rolling the dough while her brother, Paul, 4, sprinkles more flour and their mother, Cheryl, watches.
The Speer family, from left, Paul, 4, Cheryl, Shawn and Joy, 2, spent one week eating no processed food, only homemade and healthier foods.
Some of the foods the Speer family ate during their weeklong experiment were from their farm.
At the grocery store one day this summer, Cheryl Speer picked up a box of corn dogs that her son liked, and realized that she didn’t recognize most of the ingredients listed on the box.
“I looked at the back of the box, and there was such a long list of chemical after chemical, and I said, ‘I just can’t buy these,'” recalled Speer, a stay-at-home mom and former school psychologist. “So we went home and made them ourselves, and they were delicious.”
The revelation that processed foods had become a mainstay in her family’s diet disturbed Speer, and it prompted her to embark on a week of healthy eating.
Speer dubbed the adventure “Speer Family Unpackaged,” and starting on Aug. 18, Speer, her husband, Shawn, and their children, Paul, 4, and Joy, 2, shunned most food that comes in a can, box or pouch (think Fruity Pebbles and Cheetos) in favor of unprocessed foods – any food that could be made by a person in a home kitchen with readily available whole-food ingredients.
In advance, Speer made dough that she used for blueberry muffins, banana bread and white whole wheat bread throughout the week.
The South Franklin Township family ate oatmeal with homemade nectarine-honey topping, homemade granola bars, macaroni and cheese with whole-wheat elbow pasta, “chicken” noodle soup with homemade stock, and fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables. For meat, the Speers ate a pig they had raised on their farm and slaughtered and deer meat that had been given to them by hunters. Shawn and Cheryl drank homemade wine, and the family frequently snacked on fruit, granola and cheese cubes.
For dinner one night, Speer and the family made harvest vegetable venison spelt pasta using tomatoes, onions, fennel, carrots, squash and herbs pulled from the garden or bought at the farmers market. Speer picked up organic spelt pasta.
To Speer’s surprise, the dinner was a hit with the kids. In fact, other than Joy sneaking a couple of Hershey’s kisses one night, the children were content with their healthy snacks and foods, Speer said.
“It was easier for the kids than I thought,” said Speer. They didn’t complain.”
Nutrition blogger Andrew Wilder, who founded October Unprocessed, a 4-year-old event where people pledge to eat only unprocessed foods for one month (last year more than 6,000 people took the challenge), applauded the Speers for their attempt.
“It’s incredibly commendable. Our current food culture makes it challenging just to realize how much of the food we’re eating is processed. It seems almost every product these days says “natural” or “goodness” or “healthy” on the front of the package, when in reality, most of them are anything but,” said Wilder. “Recognizing what we’re putting into our bodies is the first step – then taking action easily follows.”
Speer concurs.
“The best thing about the week was feeling good about everything my kids put in their mouths,” said Speer. “When I give them something with chemicals I don’t feel good about it. We made the bread using the highest-quality ingredients, and the same with all of our treats and desserts. And you realize how much you can make with what you buy.”
The worst part of the experience, Speer said, was washing and drying the dishes.
“That was absolutely the worst thing about it. I spent so much time doing dishes. Preparing food myself did take longer, but I found that because I put time and effort into it at the beginning of the week, I could cruise at the end of the week because I had done the preparation,” she said.
Shawn missed chocolate, but said he will keep eating chemical-free snacks including fresh fruit. Speer said she will continue to coat the bread for her grilled cheese sandwiches (made with cheese that does not contain anti-mold chemicals) with garlic oil.
The Speers believe their week of eating unprocessed foods has raised their awareness about the quality of the food they’re putting in their bodies and will result in lifelong changes that will keep them on a road to good health.
Wilder said the Speers found out what most foodies who eat unprocessed foods know: Fresh food tastes better than processed food, which has most of the flavor stiprred out of it and replaced with sugar, salt, fat and fake flavors.
“I realized the convenience foods I bought were more of a convenience for me,” said Speer. “We want to take the things we learned from this experience and keep them up. Paul loved the candy-coated nuts we made with no chemicals, so we’ll keep doing that. If we don’t have processed things in the house, we won’t eat them.”
Speer chronicled “The Speer Family Unpackaged” on her blog. To follow the family’s week-long experience, go to paulsfarmblog.blogspot.com. For information on October Unprocessed 2013, visit Wilder’s website at www.eatingrules.com.