What Is Food For? by Roxana Soetebeer, MHP, NNP, PHC, PFC
What Is Food For?
In my March 1st blog, I explained what food is.
Today, I'm taking it further. Because just knowing what food is… doesn't answer what it's for.
I mean really—what is its purpose?
Is it for enjoyment? Nourishment? Comfort? Celebration? Energy? Community? Survival?
Yes?
All of the above?
Because if you ask a room full of people—especially in our modern world—you'll get different answers depending on the day of the week, their current diet, and whether or not they skipped breakfast.
Some will say, "Food is fuel."
Others say, "Food is love."
Or "Food is culture."
Or "Food is pleasure."
Let's pause for a moment and step outside the noise.
Let's pretend we're not modern humans with Uber Eats, food blogs, and 32 flavours of Doritos.
Let's pretend we're animals.
Because... we are.
Look at any other animal in nature.
What is food for them?
It's not entertainment.
It's not a hobby.
It's not therapy.
It's survival.
It's nourishment.
It's fuel for the body—nothing more, nothing less.
A lion doesn't ask herself if she should eat the zebra because it might not pair well with the rabbit she had earlier that day.
A deer doesn't say, "I'll have a little grass, a few berries, and then I'll fast for 16 hours so I can fit into my fall fur."
Animals eat what they are biologically designed to eat.
And then… they stop.
There's no confusion.
There's no food marketing.
There's no counting points or chasing protein hacks on TikTok.
Food either meets their biological needs, or it doesn't. And if it doesn't, they move on.
But we humans—we've turned food into a full-blown identity crisis.
We debate whether it's "okay" to enjoy it.
We stress about whether we should eat this or that.
We moralize food like it's a character trait—clean, dirty, sinful, healthy, good, bad.
And I get it. We live in a world where the food environment is… well, why not call it what it is: a trap.
Not everything edible is food.
80% of what's in the grocery store isn't food.
It's edible product. A product with a marketing budget.
Engineered, manipulated, shelf-stable crap designed to hit your bliss point and keep you hooked. Fun fact: the bliss point, by their own admission, is when consistency and taste are just right to make their product irresistible.
Most of what's sold as "food" today doesn't nourish. It may serve your survival, but it doesn't support your health. It doesn't even serve your enjoyment—not real enjoyment, the kind that leaves you energized and satisfied.
It serves corporations.
It serves addiction.
It serves convenience.
It serves profit.
So let me ask again:
What is food for?
For humans?
We evolved to eat for survival. For nourishment. For reproduction, healing, growth, repair.
Taste buds weren't created so we could binge Ding Dongs.
They were supposed to guide us toward nutrient-dense foods and away from poison.
But like everything else in modern life, the system's been hijacked. Our taste buds can no longer detect the poisonous nature of food-like products.
Unfortunately for us, our biology hasn't caught up to the massive changes. Evolution doesn't move at the pace of the food industry. We still carry the same instincts as our ancestors—instincts that are easily manipulated by modern hyperpalatable, artificial junk.
So maybe the better question isn't "What is food for?"
Maybe it's "What should food be for?"
Because we can choose.
We can eat to support our biology.
We can eat to feel good—not just in the moment, but in our actual lives.
We can use food to heal, to fuel, to live well.
And sure, food can be part of celebration, family, memory, joy.
But when those things replace nourishment as the primary function—when the purpose of food becomes dopamine instead of sustenance—we suffer. We pay the price.
Our health declines.
Obesity skyrockets.
Kids get sick.
Adults crash. Lose focus. Struggle through the day.
And then we wonder why we're depressed, inflamed, foggy, tired, and angry at our own bodies.
Start there. Ask it before every meal:
- Is this for dopamine?
- Or is this for nourishment?
- Is this feeding my cells—or feeding my cravings?
I'm not saying we need to be joyless nutrient robots. But maybe we should stop pretending that "balance" means eating poison sometimes or in moderation.
Maybe it's okay to demand more from what we put in our bodies.
Because we cannot escape our biology.
If we ate a species-appropriate diet—a proper human diet—we'd probably be a hell of a lot healthier.
But we've forgotten what that means.
Somewhere between survival and indulgence, we stopped asking the most basic question:
What is food for?
Eat like it matters,
Coach Roxana
Written by Roxana Soetebeer, MHP, NNP, PHC, PFC
Published April 19th, 2025
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