About Elisabeth Winkler

I am a journalist/writer/editor currently in my final (2023-2024) year of Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes MSc at Metanoia Institute.

Real Food Lover started in January 2008. I blogged mostly monthly until about 2020 and have published posts on food, including recipes and pieces about the importance of regenerative farming, particularly organic (I was editor of the Soil Association magazine until 2008).

Real Food Lover was shortlisted for the Guild of Food Writers 2009 awards.

My health depends on what I eat. That is not my head telling me – it is my digestion. Health is individual; we all have different needs, so working out what suits your gut is vital.

If you want to eat well on a budget, cook from scratch.

I used to do communications for organic and green companies, and social justice causes. More at Winkler Media.

Successful communications depends other people understanding what you are saying. Do see Winkler’s Writing Rules endorsed by the Guardian.

I subscribe to the National Union of Journalists’ Code of Practice.

Real Food Lover

What do I mean by real food? As close to nature as possible. I want mine grown organically – without chemicals and with respect, as close to my home as possible. And whole and unprocessed too, please.

I eat many plant foods including grains and pulses and, although I vibe with vegetarianism, I eat meat, relying on bone broth for my gut health. I subscribe to the concept: Eat less meat, eat better meat.

I am allergic to tomatoes, and red and green bell peppers which (my bug bear) pervade most vegetarian food. Why?

Because of my colicky gut, I learned early on how eating the right food is linked to well-being. This led me to embrace hippy food. It suited my digestion.

Aged 15, I used to hang out in Seed, the legendary macrobiotic restaurant. During the late ’70s, I worked at the Birth Centre, in the then-East-West Centre in Old Street, London, which had a macrobiotic restaurant. (I will never forget the person who spontaneously paid for my dinner when I was standing in the cafeteria queue, heavily pregnant. Pay it forward indeed).

Everything is connected. Do one positive thing and it has an intricate knock-on effect for the greater good.

Food is like that, too. “Get food right, and you get a lot of things right,” an organic pioneer once told me.

Food grown sustainably supports human health and the planet. Everything is connected.

Natural farming nourishes the soil, conserves water, nurtures wildlife and bees, and respects farm animals’ innate behaviour.

Chemical fertiliser is banned in organic farming. Its manufacture is oil-greedy and greenhouse gas-forming. And unnecessary. Compost and rotations do a better job of fertilising the soil and replenish it too.

Industrial processed food uses cheap ingredients and expensive marketing to pretend unhealthy food is good for you

I avoid supermarkets because they are the manifestation of industrial food systems. I am blessed to live in a vibrant part of Bristol with five independent shops and one organic farm shop, all stocking organic food, in walking distance.

Elisabeth Winkler mini-CV

I started my journalistic career in 1985 as a National Childbirth Trust teacher writing for Parents magazine.

I have been published in all the UK broadsheets and most women’s magazines writing widely on, for instance, relationships for the Independent on Sunday; survivors of genocide for the Mail on Sunday; survivors of child sexual abuse for Options; the lives of Simone de Beauvoir and Sartre for Marie Claire. I have interviewed my fair share of big names including Boy George for The Sunday Times Magazine.

From 1999-2000, I had a weekly political column in the Bristol Evening Post, titled Earthmother. 

From 2001 to 2009, I worked at the Soil Association magazine, as editor of Living Earth, news editor for Organic Farming and editor of Mother Earth.  I am steeped in organic history and its wise principles.

An early adopter of social media, I launched the Soil Association on Facebook  and Twitter in 2008.

Copyright

© ElisabethWinkler

I write to spread the word but as the author of original content, I like a credit. So, excuse me for getting a bit bossy:  Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from Elisabeth Winkler is strictly prohibited. You are welcome to use excerpts but, like all good bloggers, do link to the blog post from which the excerpt is taken. Thank you!

Contact me

Follow me on @ewinkler on Twitter. Email me: elisabeth. winkler @yahoo.co.uk or use the contact form at Winkler Media.

Or leave a comment below. I look forward to hearing from you.