#29: Jacqueline Morassutti
"I’ve been thinking a lot about how the quality of our lives is determined by the quality of our relationships."
Jaqueline is a student and farmer. This is part one of a two-part feature; come spring, we’ll go deeper into her work on her and her partner’s regenerative farm.1
At a glance…
Location: Vancouver Island
Big 3: Scorpio/Aries
What does health, or being healthy, mean to you?
It's a moving target. At the moment, because I'm still trying to get my iron and ferritin levels back to normal, health is measured in the energy I have to pursue the tasks that need to be done.
How would you describe your current lifestyle?
Generative.
How do you start and end your days?
The day starts with a cup of coffee and reading the news on my phone, or else I might catch up on a book I’m reading. If I’m writing from home that day I’ll try to get some work done until I stop for an early lunch. More often then not, lunch means the cast iron’s warm and the garlic’s browning in oil from a Greek delicatessen nearby. I’ll rinse whatever beans are in our pantry, generally Navaricco’s Judión or organic cannellini beans. Together with plenty of pepper, salt, oregano, either Parmigiano-Reggiano or nutritional yeast, just a little water, and a couple minutes covered with a lid and you’re done. By then I’ll have more coffee or a French press of loose leaf tea* going and it’s only a matter of time before I’m back to writing again.
If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to fit in a visit to the gym, or pilates, or a run with an audiobook (the other day my friend recommended The Peregrine by J. A. Baker, and later I discovered that the audiobook version is narrated by David Attenborough — naturally, I had to try it).
If it’s growing season, the odds are good that we’ll go to the farm once Cory’s back from work. I’m still getting used to what to do when it’s no longer growing season. By this time of year it’s too dark to get anything done at the farm, and even if we’d wanted to the wind has been racing over the island at over 100 km/hour.
The way the days end changes a lot, depending on the season. Right now, it consists of old episodes of Prison Break and electrolyte tablets.
* I recently learned about gyokuro, a Japanese green tea that’s traditionally shaded for three weeks because the reduction in photosynthesis results in the formation of astringent catechins while increasing amino acids like L-theanine and sugars that would otherwise be converted by photosynthesis.
What’s your relationship to self-healing? At what point do you feel the need to see a doctor?
I get a referral to get my blood work done 2-4 times a year, follow up with a doctor, and then go from there.
Was there a specific moment in life that made you change your approach to health, or become more conscious generally?
For as long as I've known her, my mother has been interested in wellness (although it wasn't called that back then). She made her own skin care — you could always count on her to know who had the purest shea butter — and she would sprout her own grains; almonds rarely went unsoaked. Her curiosity seemed to have no end and that's what my sister and I grew up in.
Where do you look to for information or advice?
I go to my boyfriend, or I pick up a book that was written before the internet. If I’m really twisted up about something, I’ll talk to a friend. I’ve been thinking a lot about how the quality of our lives is determined by the quality of our relationships.
What interventions have changed your health for the better? (For the worse?)
More organic apple cider vinegar, ideally unfiltered but probiotics are delicate so you have to work with what you have. My current favourites if I can find them: Flora's Turmeric and Ginger, Elderberry Apple Cider Vinegar Wellness Drink, or Barnes Naturals Apple Cider Vinegar — especially their manuka honey option.
Do you have any guiding principles?
Travel light.
What’s your perfect meal?
Whatever is local, in-season, fresh and organic.
What advice would you give to your past self?
Yoga's not for you but you're going to love weightlifting and pilates.
What advice would you give to the person reading this?
Spend more time offline.
Note: this Q&A was originally published via Mailchimp. Read the full issue here.
“…it’s a long story involving a defunct horse racetrack, an agricultural nonprofit, a boyfriend with a background in engineering background and a green thumb, a basement microgreen operation, [and] the history of Parisian market gardens,” she says.