“I would always get homemade pickles from India. Every time I would run out, I would go to the Indian store and get an equivalent. But everything I could get there had an egregious amount of salt, lots of oil, or had preservatives in them. So, I decided to make my own.” @chitra Agrawal, owner of ABCD of Cooking and @BrooklynDelhi

They say you are what you eat, and I really believe that. But how much control do we have over what’s in what we eat? Food today isn’t what it was 50 years ago. It’s different chemically, and it’s fairly well documented that processed food tricks our brains and stomachs, causing cravings for more processed food.

What struck me the first time I went to @Smorgasburg to help my son set up his craft cocktail mix store, was how much of the food on offer was traditional American cuisine such as hot dogs, donuts and mac and cheese. But there was a twist. What those young vendors offered was the real version, from scratch, without preservatives, additives, or anything artificial. A real revolution. Young people taking back control of food.

To hear more from Chitra, and fellow Smorgasburg vender Alex Abbott Boyd @cocktailcrate , and to hear expert advice from legendary Sri Lankan tea entrepreneur Merrill J. Fernando, listen to my new podcast.

Find out:

How to start a food or beverage company

What it takes to stay in business

The pros and cons of preservatives

How entrepreneurs pay it forward

How they preserve and update cuisine

I was so full I thought I’d explode, but as looked at the last piece of chocolate, I knew I’d eat it.

Practicing mindful eating let me shed pounds, but a year on, my weight plateaued, and then, to my horror earlier this year, it spiked again. Time to hit the reset button. . .

Enter the labyrinth of food, weight and addiction with me. Find your own center and take control of your health.

Hear naturopathic doctor Tom Francescott, and horticultural therapist Ellen Wolf on obesity, weight loss, addiction, mindful eating, and more.

Find out:

What cleansing is

How I turned my blood sugar from pre diabetic to normal

How food can become an addiction

How you can replace old habits and self-destructive behavior and new, healthy ones

What mindful eating is, and how it can work for you.

Experience the beauty and tranquility of The Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY

Ever wonder where tea comes from? Click on the link to my podcast and come with me on a journey to an enchanted tea estate in Sri Lanka.

Hear the voices of Sri Lanka’s tea men, and the sounds of Ceylon tea.

Meet legendary tea entrepreneur Merrill J. Fernando, Founder and Chairman of the MJF Group of Companies and creator of Dilmah Tea.

Join a line of thirsty Aussie office workers waiting for their morning tea. Then follow A Year of Mindful Eating at Soundcloud.com.

And when you’re done listening, put the kettle on and enjoy a lovely “cuppa” tea.

Photo Credit: Antony Stanley from Gloucester, UK (Tea Picking, Nuwara Eliya) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

My trip to Doteloya in the 1990s was sponsored in part by Merrill J. Fernando.

Jillian Abbott tells the story of her father growing tomatoes and teaching her about the miracles of gardening, and the joy of real food.

Playing in the back yard as a kid, "Baaaaka," was a much anticipated refrain at the neighbor’s back door. When it came at last, I’d run inside, shouting “He’s coming.”

Listen to find out more.

My life was falling apart. After being passed over for promotion yet again, I fell into a depression and began to stack on weight. My blood sugar had been pre-diabetic for years, but now I was sure I had diabetes.

I’m Jillian Abbott with A Year of Mindful Eating: stories from the food I eat.