About Nourish Network

August, 2010

It’s a new look—and a new beginning—for Nourish Network and it seems a good time to wrap my hand again around the stake I drove into the ground nearly two years ago, when the notion of Nourish Network was born.

I was on the “what I learned” end of a decade-long journey that had begun with two life-threatening diagnoses from my doctor. I’ll write more about the details of the journey, which played out through many different countries (Costa Rica, Guatemala, Italy and Greece among others) on both a personal and professional level, later.

The important thing I want to get across today is that I began this site because I craved a venue where I could boldly, without reservations, share the important lessons I learned on that journey: What we eat reverberates emotionally, locally, globally to either deplete or nourish. And we can learn how to live on the latter side of that equation.

I started Nourish Network not just to talk about how to maintain a comfortable weight and healthy body. Not just to explore how to eat more sustainably or even how to enjoy cooking.

Sure, we cover all of that here on the site. But this place—my passion, my calling—is to show how to nourish our bodies … our souls … our families … our communities … our planet … in the fullest sense of the word.

Do you get the difference?

If you do, if you even have a flutter of “she’s making sense,” I hope you’ll join me. As I talk to more and more people from all walks of life, from all around the globe, at all stages of their own journey, I’ve been touched—and elated—by how deeply the Nourish message resonates with so many.

A Tour of the New Site

OK, enough about big picture for now. Let me take you on a tour of the new digs.

As always, you can expect bite-sized articles (with the addition of a splurge here and there) on our four core areas, with recipes that put the principles into practice:

  • Sound Nutrition – Not “latest diet fads,” but solid nutritional principles that have sustained cultures around the globe for generations. I’ve found that the more I internalize these truths, the more smart choices become second nature. “I should do” becomes “I want to.”
  • Eco-clean Eating – The more I pay attention to what I put into my body, the more concerned I become about protecting it. We’ll continue to illuminate the somewhat murky waters of “sustainability” here.
  • Mindful Meals – I like to say that food is about so much more than what we put in our mouth. There’s soul to it, emotion attached to it and qualities altogether intangible. Here’s where we explore those ethereal areas.
  • Kitchen Tips – Honestly, if you abhor cooking, then all these conversations are for naught. But I find that people are often way more intimidated by cooking than they need to be. So every now and again we’ll throw in something we’ve learned, or expertise we can pass on, to help those just learning to boil water get more comfortable in the kitchen.
  • Videos – We’ll continue to expand our video library of Kitchen Tips Video Clips (little snippets to help you with basics in the kitchen) and more.
  • Market – Did you know we have a market? We’ve sussed out the tools we most covet in our kitchens and offer them here. Some are simple, like a melon baller. But for the higher ticket items, we’ve tried to include three “tiers”: budget, approachable and splurge. Check it out if you’re in the, ahem, market for new equipment.

Now on to the new stuff!

With this nifty new design, we’ve added a few fun new features:

  • Thursday Giveaways – Each Thursday, we’ll announce a new giveaway on the site (and the winner each Friday). From books to snacks to tableware, we’ll feature cool things that embody the Nourish philosophy.
  • Favorite Finds – These will be little snippets on fun products, websites, people, etc. we find that embody … you know where I’m going with that.
  • Noteworthy News – In the past, we’ve struggled with where to put our little commentaries on news that hits the Nourish radar (and that takes more than 140 characters to expound upon). This is where you can find them now.

A more integrated community

If you were frustrated in the past with the clunky nature of our member area (I was), I encourage you to come check out the new Community. Here are some highlights:

  • The new Activity Stream—in your Profile, in Groups and more—lets you jump in and comment anywhere, and if you want to call someone out in a comment, you can use the @ feature similar to Twitter and Facebook.
  • You can also ‘favorite’ any part of an Activity Stream to access whenever you want from the Favorites area in your profile.
  • You can ‘like’ anything in your Activity Stream to announce to others that you’re into it.
  • You can friend anyone from his or her profile page … no need to be in the member directory now.
  • You can post photos! Oh what fun we’re going to have with THAT feature!
  • You can link your Facebook and/or Twitter account to your Nourish Network updates, so your friends here can keep up with you without you having to duplicate efforts (and a great way to let your pals who aren’t members yet know about Nourish Network).

My intention all along was for Nourish Network to be more than just a source for awesome articles and fabulous recipes, but also a place for us to connect around deeper topics while fostering community both online and off. I’m happy to say that with this new design, that vision can really come alive for us all!

So that’s what you can expect from the new Nourish Network.

And it is not, I know, the right place for everyone. In fact, if you’re looking for low-fat options or a diet that dictates what to eat, this probably isn’t the site for you. But if reading this makes you say, “YES … they get it!” then I’d like to ask this of you:

  • Sign up for our weekly Friday Digest update (and RSS if you’d like continual updates)
  • Become a member if you’re not already (more here on how to dig deeper into the community)
  • Spread the word! Whether it’s tweeting, telling your Facebook friends or sporting a nifty Nourish Network badge on your own blog … let people know you’re Nourished.

I’ve staked my career on the notion that others, too, are yearning to go beyond diets and deprivation and truly nourish themselves, each other and the earth we share through the food we eat.

If you’re living this way, join me.

If you want to live this way, but don’t yet quite know how, join me.

If you’ve never thought this way before, but something clicks way deep down for you as you read through this: join me.

Know that, here, you’ll be Nourished.