Colleen Hurley Elliot, RD
I have a pure, unadulterated, genuine love of food. Everything about it; from growing it, to cooking it, and of course- eating it. I read cookbooks cover to cover like they’re romance novels. My heart soars over the comradery of cooking together. There is nothing more satisfying than craving a food or meal, procuring the ingredients, cooking, then sitting down to said meal accompanied with a well-paired vinyl and perhaps a pairing from the grape kind of vine. Few things bring me more joy than watching the magic unfold through the simple act of gathering people around a meal table.
I have also seen the downside of food and how it can be used as a weapon of self-destruction. Food can be friend or foe, lover or abuser, healing or illness-causing; as well as a source of great pride or deep shame.
I spent nearly two decades being an intermediary between food and self for others, soldiering with clients through the war zone that is the power food can possess, extolling the virtues of exercise, and promising I can show you how to make kale actually taste good. I had always known it’s not my advice or the food I suggest that really makes the difference, it is rather the personal change an individual is ready to make.
I still believe food truly does heal, although that concept has continued to evolve in tandem with my own personal evolution. I want us all to eat the best way we can reasonably afford, but not in a way that has us filled with anxiety over whether or not every single bite of poultry we eat for the rest of our lives was sung to before bed. I want who is seated around your table to be just as important as what’s on your table. I want to create and foster moments that the ambiance and coversation were so good you forgot what you ate, or the food so good nobody could speak.
One thing I can say for sure, my alphabet is officially shorter because I am out of ‘F’s. Use the good china on a Tuesday. Light a candle at your desk while you eat lunch. Use cloth napkins during breakfast. Let’s band together, eat yummy food that’s not full of gross ingredients, move our bodies when and how we can, redefine our own vision of wellness, talk, vent, and tell our stories about how the hell we got here.
Colleen Hurley Elliot is a registered dietitian, Master Gardener, and trained chef. Hailing from Chicago’s south side, Colleen brings a no-nonsense approach to utilizing California’s natural abundance, as well as years of experience in a variety of settings including event coordination, corporate wellness, integrative medicine clinics, familial nutrition, public health programs, teaching kitchens, classrooms, educational gardens, product development, and copywriting. After over two decades in the food and wellness industries, Colleen has realized that life is too short to not have chocolate.
