by Marilyn Fidler, Marketing Consultant

Our recent Thanksgiving feasts are already dim memories, as we indulge in the many sweet and savory delicacies that abound during the December “holidaze.” I’ve been thinking about how America’s culinary development has come full circle this holiday season. The intent of observing a national day of thanksgiving is, of course, to remind everyone to be thankful for what we are able to enjoy, just as our earliest settlers enjoyed their bounty, however meager theirs may seem to us today. We don’t usually think about how the Pilgrims observed their first Christmas at Plymouth Rock, but their options could not have been very different than those for their first Thanksgiving. They were dependent on what they could grow, hunt or catch within their immediate vicinity…the original American locavore meal.

Since those first holiday meals, America eventually embraced the basic nutritional concept of the seven basic food groups …grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy, animal protein and nuts/legumes. Although probably inadvertently, every Norman Rockwell-wannabe holiday feast now includes bread and/or stuffing, mashed potatoes and/or yams, green beans, brussel sprouts or an alternative vegetable, cranberry relish, ample helpings of butter, whipped cream and nuts combined in various desserts and of course, turkey, roast prime rib, goose or lamb…something from each of the seven groups. But, this year have you noticed how many cooks have grown their own vegetables and herbs, purchased organic everything from turkeys to cranberries, sought fresh-from-a-local dairy butter and cream, etc., etc…..locavore, just like the Pilgrims.

The Pilgrims might have felt right at home at many holiday feasts this year except, of course, for the fact that our holidays have also become the national season for over-eating. How ironic that despite the abundance of fast and processed food and consumption, American holiday meals are actually the only ones that consistently include all the recommended basic nutritional components and are also the meals where everyone over indulges. The benefits of locavore nutrition can’t out weigh overindulgence.

So, it might just be that if we pause to give thanks and celebrate more often, healthy, enjoyable eating will become routine and we will all be less inclined to over-indulge at any one meal….something for which to be truly thankful. Ooops…is that the aroma of cookies baking in the oven that I smell?