| A Yippieneck Gets Food-Savvy: One Man’s Quest for Healthier Eating |
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| Written by Gregory Morris |
| 14 June 2022 |
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Left: Greg working on some compost carbon | Right: Jennifer and their greenhouse peach tree Editor’s Note: Gregory Morris is a 64-year-old self-styled "Yippieneck"- a redneck logger turned yuppie businessman turned hippie logger activist - who’s on a personal campaign for food security and wellness. Greg and his wife Jennifer have a home and garden near Gamadiis Port Clements, and this is the first of what will be a series of lively sketches on the progress they are making.
Long story short, I have always hunted for my meat source, from a young child harvesting grouse in the Peace River country to deer, elk and cougar on Vancouver Island, sprin-kled with caribou and mountain goat on the mainland. I was born on Haida Gwaii in 1957 and it was a lucky break to find my way back here in 2007 after a 48-year walkabout. It was then that I met Jennifer at Queen B's restaurant in Daajing Giids Queen Charlotte, and we found we shared many of the same passions for food and fun. I had the skill of wild game and fungi harvesting, she had the expertise in the culinary arts, so naturally we decided to form a team. It was all about growing the best food we were able to man-ifest, while living in Tll.aal Tlell. We eventually bought a piece of land just north of Gamadiis Port Clements and managed to get the acreage developed by being weekend warriors of many chores, but it seemed a monumental task between work and more work. Burnout was taking its toll, and smoking/drinking was at a level greater than what was healthy, so I retired. I've managed to get out of the game in one piece and am now focusing all my time and energy into food production and a healthy mindful lifestyle. For one thing, I discovered "intermittent fasting" to address the inflammation in my body, lower my blood pressure, increase my energy and as a bonus, get rid of some extra weight! (More about this fasting regimen in a future article.) I also started to do some serious research into the foodstuffs we eat. One thing I learned was that much of the processed food consumed by today's western populations impacts the gut microbiome and increases insulin resis-tance and coronary disease. The key is quality/real/whole food and ridding oneself of all processed food. The best model is the European dietary disciplines of Mediterranean-themed food types with as many fibrous vegetables as possible. However. I'm NOT a nutritionist or food scientist, so you should always get advice from your doctor if you’re thinking of changing your eating habits. Jennifer and I are lucky enough to grow most of our own veggies, harvest deer and get fabulous seafood from a good Haida friend, all of which is organic and real. My intent (long-term) is to grow affordable, good/real/whole foods, as much as I can for my friends and communities on Haida Gwaii. This will be my part of the puzzle, till I go for my last walkabout! Photos by Claude Adams |
