So who's writing this blog anyway?

My name is Shannon. I live on a mini homestead with my hard working husband and two mini foragers ages 11 and 5. We have two large vegetable gardens, a medicinal herb garden, chickens, bees and a dog. You may think that at least one of us was raised this way and so it all came naturally to have this lifestyle. Nope. There was a time in our life that Taco Bell, Hamburger Helper and Red Bull ran through our veins. My mom was always a garden lover and growing up we always had at least a token tomato plant that gave us one or two tomatoes. Sound familiar? So what changed? 

It all started a few years back. I kept seeing posts on Facebook about essential oils and I didn’t really get what they were or what to do with them. So I asked my chiropractor about them since I’ve seen them on her shelf at the office. While she taught me a lot about how powerful the oils are, what stuck out to me in that conversation was that you could rub them on the bottom of your feet and within 30 seconds they would absorb through your skin and into your bloodstream. Around that same time, a friend of mine invited me over to teach me how she makes her own soaps and lotions. She also said something that was very pivotal for me in my journey. 

“I try to never put things on my body that I cannot eat.” 

Suddenly that comment joined forces with what I had learned about the function of essential oils and it really transformed my thinking. I went home and looked at the ingredients in the soaps, shampoos, lotions and deodorants that I used. I wasn’t necessarily trying to see if my products were edible but I noticed a long list of ingredients I could barely pronounce as well as others I knew were synthetic chemicals. If essential oils were used by absorbing through my skin and into my bloodstream then so are all these other chemicals. What about the ingredients in the foods I was consuming? Thus the journey began.

Over the past few years I have been learning how our bodies work and how they process synthetic vs. organic substances as well as how to naturally treat and prevent illness and inflammation. So, I decided to start Forage & Feast. 

Ok, I know that learning about how many toxic chemicals are in our foods and products can feel overwhelming. This is why you need to continue to follow this blog. I have a new passion to transform those overwhelming feelings into inspiration and empowerment without feeling like a huge undertaking. I hope that this blog easily guides you to make little by little changes that you feel good about. Even if you make just one change, it’s one step closer to a healthier life.