Unplated: An Interview with Sarah Bradley

Food for love, food for health

A side note before we jump in: I’m giving a book talk at Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, NC on Saturday, January 21st! Check out the details here. I hope you can join us!

I first met Sarah Bradley, also lovingly known as Petals, years ago when I first started teaching fermentation classes in Atlanta. It’s been a joy to watch her work shift from ferment production to health and wellness, and I’ve been curious how her work with food intersects with her perspectives on health overall.

Petals is a double certified Holistic Ayurvedic Health Counselor trained in Feminine Form Ayurveda, Classical Ayurveda and Herbalism. She is the founder of Woodland Wellness Farm Apothecary, a slow-medicine venture rooted on her homestead in the North Georgia mountains. Here, I ask her about her work and the connections between food, health, and our connections to ourselves.

Tell me a bit about Woodland Wellness. What's the driving philosophy behind your work?

Woodland Wellness was created to bring us back to our bodies, to be both grounded and nourished with high quality foods, medicines and practices. To be stewards of our nervous systems, which rule all aspects of our wellness. To tap into and utilize the mind-body connection, understanding how and why the body sends us information so we can live our most potent, balanced lives. We are passionate about helping people feel at home, inspired yet unintimidated, and discover practical and delicious ways to take good care of themselves. 

Woodland Wellness is the living, physical manifestation of my own personal holistic journey. It is a platform for sharing everything that I use and apply in my own daily life, that I have been so deeply impassioned, enlivened and liberated by. It’s been a long time in the making, literally more than a decade of diving into many different forms of intentional living, healing, medicine making and communing with the land. Although Ayurveda is the foundation of Woodland Wellness, our philosophy and offerings are surely hybridized between Western Herbalism, “Feminine Form” and Classical Ayurveda, Permaculture, and various other sciences and ways of living. All of these sciences overlap, re-affirming the deep wisdom they all hold, just in different expressions and teaching applications.

Many great ancient sciences, cultures and civilizations have fed on one another, borrowing wisdom and practices while staying distinguished and true to their origins. The universal laws of our world are seen overlapping in many systems, whether they were actually shared or simply understood independently. The constant development of how to work with and within these laws is what helps us evolve and grow stronger over time. Ayurveda had always worked alongside other systems, such as Unani, another indigenous Indian medical system, and the formation of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) as Asia became settled. 

Sadly, on the other hand, some cultures, religions, and systems have felt threatened by anything that is outside of their own teachings, causing them to seek to destroy, ban or overthrow “the others”. Ayurveda has had many attempts at abolishment, whether it be very early on in 1200 AD by Muslim groups, or later during British colonization of India around the 1800s. Despite these efforts, Ayurveda has survived as an underground science. Spoken teachings continued when texts were banned, so naturally, the science was carried out mainly by the female caretakers of each family - by the mothers and grandmothers who know that both wellness and remedy lies in every meal, every spice, every routine or practice, every season and every environment. Ayurveda literally translates into “the science of life” and recognizes our relationship to our surroundings as just as important as our relationship to the foods we put in our body. It is an all-encompassing health science, that is just as focused on maintaining your wellness as it is treatment when out of balance or in disease states. 

Part of why I wanted to interview you is because I like hearing different people's perspectives on food as medicine, particularly those who make medicines as well as foodstuff. 

How do you define food as medicine? When someone asks you to explain how that works, what do you say?

What a beautiful question. Food is medicine, as is the music that rings through your eardrums into your body. Let’s first get into that macro definition of food, which I’d like to define as something different than most of us think of food as. “Food” is anything that you take in with your five senses. 

Food is as much the texture of our clothing as it is the spiciness of our lunch. Food is the temperature of the room, the scent in the air, the conversations you partake in and the colors that surround you. Food is all of the qualities that you are taking in on a daily basis, which inform the qualities of your mind + body on a cellular level. In Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine and many other traditional health sciences, we look at things on an elemental plane and consider the “qualities” of things. Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Ether are the elemental components that make up all things; yes, even you. We are all a unique combination of these elements and express ourselves physically and mentally through them. 

For a real life example, think of your fiery Uncle who has a quick temper, talks loudly and sharply, has sweaty armpits, watches the news constantly, puts Cholula on everything and drinks alcohol daily. He has a lot of fire going on in his system. The “food” he is taking in increases the fire in his mind + body and pushes it out of balance in his system, causing excess heat in both his mind and physical body. The excess heat will have him tending to inflammatory conditions, high blood pressure, skin rashes, excess anger and irritability, insomnia, etc. Therefore, cooling “foods” would be this Uncle’s medicine. Cooling sounds (removing hot stimulus like the constant news and replacing it with fictional feel good stories/shows), cooling textures (getting in water, swimming, silk sheets, milk baths, cooling oils after showers), cooling tastes (bitter, astringent, sweet tastes), visually cooling environments (out of direct sunlight, more moonlight/stargazing), cooling scents (eucalyptus, mint, sandalwood, floral scents like rose, lavender + chamomile). These are all ways to balance excess Fire/heat in your system. This is how an Ayurvedic mother and grandmother would maintain the wellness of their family, by ushering in the “foods” that would balance their elements, as each person has unique and changing needs. 

Next, let’s get to the more micro definition of Food as Medicine. We were designed as part of our ecosystem, as is every other living (and non-living) thing on this planet. When you take a plant out of its natural environment and put it in a pot indoors, you must still give it similar nutrients and conditions if you expect it to thrive. If we humans expect to thrive, we must give our bodies what we were designed to consume, at the time of day and quantity that they were designed to be consumed. Of course, we all come from different lands throughout the globe, and most of us are a combination of different heritages and genetics at this point, but at a fundamental level, we all have similar dietary requirements that will allow us to either thrive, survive or not. 

Let’s break down the importance and medicinal effects of protein, for example. Protein is very important in our overall body processes, more than just high caloric intake and muscle growth. Just as we are part of our larger ecosystem, protein (and the amino acids within) are part of our own body's ecosystem, and each amino acid has dual roles in the functioning of our body. For example the essential amino acid glutamine plays a huge role in intestinal mucosal integrity, and sadly, our intestinal walls are under attack by pesticides and the heavy processing of our foods and food ingredients. Essential amino acid arginine is responsible for neonatal growth and embryonic survival. Many essential amino acids (meaning they must be consumed in food and are not produced by our body, unlike non-essential amino acids), play important roles in the regulation of gene expression, cell signaling, antioxidative responses, and immunity. Shew, and that’s just a tiny scratch of the surface. These foods play huge roles in both maintaining our wellness and bringing us back to it. 

Epigenetics is a beautiful example of the principles of Food as Medicine. Did you know that we can actually alter our DNA with the foods we eat? That means we can rewrite our personal story of health and the health of our children by nourishing ourselves with high-quality foods. Epigenetics has proven that our genes are not set in stone upon birth as science once thought. Our 20,000+ genes are designed to get turned on or off depending on different stimuli entering our bodies (so remember, stimuli = food = anything we take in with our five senses). I think we’d all hope to turn on positive genes and turn off negative gene expression. The best (or worst, depending on your perspective) news is that YOU CAN! It’s a huge power and responsibility that you hold. No, you don’t have to be perfect. You won’t ever eat perfectly, sleep perfectly, never stress, etc., but instead of feeling disempowered by this magical ability, why don’t we take our power back within it? Where did we receive these blocks to our own self love and care that makes us so afraid of this power? Like Peter Parker of Spiderman said, “With great power comes great responsibility”. 

To put Food as Medicine simply, our bodies are interconnected ecosystems that rely on diversity for a healthy, robust landscape. One person’s food as medicine will be slightly different from the next if you’re looking to remedy a current imbalance, but consuming a variety of high quality foods, which naturally have medicinal actions on our body, maintains our wellness and vibrancy, which is just as imperative as any therapeutic treatment. 

I like that your work takes place at your home in the beautiful North Georgia mountains. What impact does place have upon your philosophy and the food and medicine you produce?

Ah, yes - place. Just as I described that the quality of your surroundings affects your mind and body on a cellular level, the place that I grow and produce my medicine and healing foods is very important. Woodland Wellness is stationed out of both our homestead here in Clarkesville, GA and our kitchen in Clayton, GA. Having the energetics of these spaces to infuse my creations is a huge part of their efficacy. There is a resonance that is imbued into the creations of any maker, and you can literally feel that when you consume it. This is the reason every person will produce a different result with the same recipe. Or simply think about the way that looking at art makes you feel, you can literally feel the heart and soul of the artist.

Many people say they can literally taste the love poured into my products. They are right, although I am human and also have hard days, I intentionally imbue love into everything I craft. “You can’t make medicine when you’re mad.” It just doesn’t work. Whether it be singing, chanting, praying, or simply taking a moment to observe it in wonder, my creations really mean something to me. When I shake my tinctures or stir my broth, I feel I’m on my purpose’s path. I feel connected, reverent and intentional. This ripples out into the quality of what I have to offer and keeps the integrity of my work strong and bright, which also ripples back into me. For that I am grateful.

You're creative outside the kitchen, too: How do art and music (or whatever other creative outlets!) inform your work? How can we see those manifested in your philosophy around food?

Although I wouldn’t consider myself an artist of any one trade, I definitely like to make my life a work of art and keep my world full of color. I enjoy working with wood and leather, designing costumes, designing landscapes, using both spoken and written words to express my heart and soul and using dance to journey through all that can’t be put into a sentence. Art is fun and full of dynamics, it's a universal language that we all speak and understand. It’s both an avenue for outward expression and for inward self-exploration. I am both a very expressive and self-exploratory person, a person who has a deep hunger for communing, philosophy, reflection and journeying. The artistic process is all about having a vision for something and seeing it through. It always manifests differently than you originally imagined, but somehow also more beautifully. This is a law of art that has taught me lessons in surrender time and time again; this is also a law of life.

When I first created the work of art and expression that is Woodland Wellness, my big debut into the world was nerve wracking. It was like pulling the sheet off of my life's most grand masterpiece and watching everyone's faces at their first gaze. To be received in so much awe and desire for this art filled me up in the deepest way. Like when I said “when you look at someone's art, how does it make you feel?”. There are many of us that are looking to feel at home, inspired yet unintimidated, and yearn to discover practical and delicious ways to take good care of themselves. To be more connected to our bodies, to be both grounded and nourished. To be stewards of our nervous systems. To live our most potent and balanced lives. These are the principles of my own heart and my own path, which naturally expresses itself into the art of my creation, Woodland Wellness. There are many of us that feel a resonance in this, feel at home in these very concepts, which is a bond that all of us who commune with Woodland Wellness share. 

How does sharing food, and food knowledge, help us strengthen community? How does community building intersect with your work?

Food brings us home. It is grounding, it is nourishing, it’s a reminder that we are loved and cared for. 

Food is an offering of love. When someone gets sick, has a baby, loses a loved one, what do you do? You bring them food. When you gather with loved ones to celebrate a holiday, a birthday, or simply a day together, what do you bring? An offering of food. Food is a basic necessity and none of us can go on without it. We gather around food and we care for others by providing it. It is something we all have in common, a common bond. Food is a language of love.

Food tells a story. Throughout all of time, we’ve learned not only how to provide ourselves with nutrition, but how to make our meals into an art. Parents and grandparents pass on family recipes and food traditions to their children and grandchildren. Because losing them would be losing a part of their family or cultural story. Just as the style of homes changes from civilization to civilization, so do their food and food traditions. Food is an art, an expression of a time and place. By sharing food knowledge, we share history. We communicate with both our ancestors and those that will come after us. 

Years ago, I created my medicinal broths because I knew I needed to supplement with some sort of multivitamin to make up for the loss of micronutrients in my food, or moreso the soil that so much of my food is grown in. I didn’t want to take a standard multi-vitamin, as I knew this was second best to the medicine in food + herbs themselves. I crafted this broth to take care of my body, and now I get to craft it to take care of my community. If it weren’t for the traditions of all of my broth-making ancestors, I would’ve never had the wisdom to tap into this practice. I hope my grandchildren’s grandchildren will feel the resonance in their big hot pots of simmering broth. I hope they feel connected to all of life, like I am grateful to when I lift the lid on my own broth pot. I hope all of my community feels it in every sip of broth they take, and their cells dance in the grandiose of food, art, history and love.