To begin thinking about how to feed a family we need to go back to a home before the 1880s when food was almost a full-time job:
She gardened and perhaps did some backyard butchering, made soap and candles, preserved the fruits and vegetables, salted and pickled the meat, churned butter, and baked enormous quantities of bread, pie, and cake.”
Laura Shapiro, Perfection Salad, p.12
Immediately we can see the contrast between the work of a housewife before industrialization, and our current lifestyles. The main difference is that self-sufficiency in food preparation is no longer a reality for most of us, and convenience has come to dominate the way we think about food.
Methods and diets have changed beyond recognition. There is an interesting BBC clip about how diets have even changed dramatically since the 1980s.
In many ways we are so spoilt for choice. We can be grateful that our family survival no longer depends on our food preparation skills. But instead we mostly seem to rush around trying to make our meal preparation faster and faster, easier and easier.
Where to begin?
So what does it mean for a woman to provide food for her household today? It probably isn’t growing all the vegetables. But does pressing the 3 minute timer on the microwave count? What does it really mean to feed people?
These are really important questions when we are thinking about how to cook, and feed a family. Something which used to be a highly skilled job, can now be as simple as reading instructions on a frozen packet. I don’t have anything against convenience foods, they can be very useful. But we and our families are going to eat day after day, and it is worthwhile to think about how.
The woman I have been thinking about who is mentioned in the Bible in Proverbs 31 “provides food for her household”. Anyone who does this regularly knows that it is really hard work to feed your family. Feeding people happens so often in a day, and it repeats so relentlessly, that character, inspiration, and sacrifice are required.
Can it be easy to feed a family?
If we try to do this in the easiest way possible, we could feed our families ready meals and packet foods every day, without even turning on the oven. For the first time in history this is a real option for us. But we don’t only want easy food, we also want healthy food which does our bodies good. Convenience foods are almost always higher in sugar, salt, and fat than homemade food. So to get healthy meals means using fresh ingredients and making recipes from scratch.
If we also have a budget to stick to, this is another consideration. So now we need easy, healthy and cheap meals. Whether you are feeding a large family like me, just yourself and your husband, or yourself and a housemate, we can see that this whole area of providing food requires more thought than you would imagine.
3 Essential Tips for Feeding a Family
I’m going to suggest 3 essentials to get you started:
- Rhythm: Look at the shape of each day. How does food fit in? When is a good time for everyone to eat? Look at your own daily schedule. When are your best times for getting some food prep done? Think about when you are tired, when you need to be present to play with a child, when your husband or housemate or friend might be in need of a good meal. Plan around these factors so that you can establish a daily rhythm which allows food to become part of your family life and not just a stressful burden.
- System: You need a good system to avoid lots of expensive and exhausting last minute meals. Families need a consistent routine for eating together, and it does require advance planning. I meal plan a week in advance and then buy everything needed for those meals. You can also meal plan a whole month. Think about how food planning might work best in your family and home.
- Vision: Food is about more than just food! It should be prepared and received as if it was the manna God sent from heaven to feed the Israelites in the desert! It is God’s provision for us, our daily bread. Even if we have prepared it, it is God’s provision for us. It is to be displayed and celebrated extravagantly at times, at other times eaten quietly. Widely shared with many others, taken to this house or that, or enjoyed together as a family. What is your vision for food in your life?
I hope this has helped you to think more about feeding your family in whatever kind of stage or circumstances you are in. If you would like to read the previous posts in this Homemaking for Beginners series, you can find them here:
The Homemaking Life: An Introduction
Willing Hands: The Heart Behind a Happy Home
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Recipes
Summer Pasta with Halloumi and Chorizo:
https://home-on-the-rock.com/how-to-make-tasty-summer-pasta-for-your-family/