5 ways to get closer to your food
11 November 2026 · 4 min read
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Brett NethellOrganised team
How close we are to our food plays a huge role in how healthy we are. If, like the average person, we are always buying packaged, pre-cooked food that just needs to be popped in the oven, microwave, or even just opened, our health pays the price for this convenience. Unfortunately, many today have no connection to their food, whereas our ancestors were deeply connected to theirs, and this was reflected in their health.
Cooking from scratch is the first step toward a closer connection with your food, but how can you go deeper? How can you get as close as possible to your food and therefore improve your health at the same time? That’s exactly what we’ll cover here, so read on.
1. Order cuts that need trimming
Most people have the same relationship with meat: it comes in a packet, requires little work to cook, and can simply be dropped into the frying pan or the oven. However, this isn’t how meat comes initially, and when we stick only to ready-to-cook cuts, it suggests we may be eating only one form of meat: muscle meat. Instead, when we buy organs such as heart or kidney, we have to get the knife out and start trimming.
This not only improves our culinary skills but also makes cheaper cuts less daunting. We can easily trim and stuff a heart and eat a diet far more in line with nose-to-tail eating.
2. Attend a butchery class
Knowing how to properly butcher an animal is something far too few people know how to do, even how to properly prepare a chicken or turkey. But often buying a whole chicken or deer carcass is far cheaper than buying individual parts.
When we see all the processes that go into turning an animal from a carcass into cuts of meat, we naturally have more respect for our food and for those who do this work day in and day out. Even if you don't plan to consistently butcher and prepare meat, this is one way to get closer to your food and improve your culinary skills.
3. Take a farm tour / volunteer to help out
Walking around a supermarket and looking at all the options available makes it easy to forget all the farming that goes into keeping shelves stocked. Our food doesn't just appear on shelves; farmers work incredibly hard to raise animals and grow produce. Taking a tour, or better yet volunteering at a farm, even if just for a day, can give you greater insight into what it takes to feed people.
Fully understanding the journey of the animal or seed to the steak or vegetables on your plate gives you a far deeper connection to your food. You understand this can't be replaced by ultra-processed foods.
4. Grow your own food
Following on from the above, growing your own food, even if it is a simple herb, is a valuable step. Experiencing both the joy of successfully growing your own food and the difficulty of doing so puts you in a far deeper connection with your food and helps you become a little bit more self-sufficient and resourceful.
Combined with the fact that growing your own food is almost always organic unless you choose to spray artificial pesticides, you also have healthier, hyperlocal food to eat at your fingertips. Some of the easiest foods to grow at home are radishes, potatoes, courgettes, spring onions, lettuce and beans.
5. Catch / hunt your own dinner
The final way to get as close to your food as possible is to hunt or catch it yourself. This may be fishing or deer stalking. The act of hunting is deeply rooted in our early ancestors, the hunter-gatherers. Many may not feel the urge to take their connection to food this far, but if you do, this is one of the best ways to show deep respect for the animals we eat. They make the ultimate sacrifice for us, and hunting gives us a connection that is hard to find even within farming, where animals are sent away to be slaughtered.
Learning to fish or attending a stalking day are the best ways to reach this final step in connecting with your food. Being physically fit is often required for long waiting times and quick movement. The ultimate respect for the food we so easily obtain is understood when hunting.
Summary
Supermarkets can make us take an abundance of food for granted. Food production is incredibly hard work. Reconnecting with your food and where it comes from means experiencing the journey of your food and eating food that doesn’t come neatly packaged, but in its more primitive form. Whatever step you are at, push yourself to the next one if you feel comfortable doing so.
