Just How Much Can One Year Change a Kitchen–and A Family? Last year when I first interviewed Amy, her son had been recently diagnosed on the autism spectrum, which sent them on a journey to revisit their diet and see what changes they could make. Now, A year later, Amy shares just how whole foods has changed their family!

I’ve struggled this year with feeling like the snobby organic mom who won’t let her kids eat what the other kids are eating. We had to bring our own ice cream and toppings to the homeschool ice cream party. Through that I had to remember to focus on the question, what are we gaining here?

Last year I embarked on an adventure into the kitchens of 3 families who are taking on a whole food diet. Well, it’s a year later and I thought it might be time to revisit these families and see what has changed, adapted, and transformed over the past year.

Each morning I wake groggily and find my way to the kitchen. I pour a steaming cup of coffee and head out to the garden. Slowly I make my way around mounds of soil and baby plants to see the growth that took place over night. They are always growing. New sprouts– where nothing was yesterday, today there is green life, new leaves, and finally–first fruits.

“For better and for worse, children learn from our example. If we believe that outdoor work is beneath us, they will too. If we see it as a time to be with God while enjoying sunshine and fresh air, they will to…In order to see, hear, smell, taste, and touch God’s creation, we need to work alongside Him.”

Today was full– full but not busy, not hectic, not frenzied, just full and fulfilling. We hunted for the perfect tomatoes, rode a lawn mower train, bought our garden’s worth of transplants, planted half of them into the earth. Today I taught my son what a baby broccoli plant looks like, and how to place it into the soil so it can grow. So he can eat it. So he can grow.