When Merida Faulk visited her grandmother in the hills of Crete, she didn’t expect a life lesson in longevity. “She was 87, still tending her herb garden barefoot, and could walk up hills faster than me,” Merida recalls.
At first, Merida thought it was just genetics. But after staying for three weeks, she began to notice patterns—slow mornings, lots of movement, sunlight, and, most importantly, the way they ate.
“It wasn’t just the food,” she explains. “It was the rhythm of their meals, the joy around the table, the simplicity.”
Breakfasts were small—often olives, bread, and a boiled egg. Lunches were hearty stews or bean salads, always dressed in golden olive oil and shared over laughter. Dinner was light, maybe a tomato and cucumber salad, or a warm dish of greens with lemon.
She returned home and recreated the rhythm—not just the recipes. She stopped rushing meals, started batch-cooking lentils and beans, and bought better olive oil. Instead of eating in front of a screen, she ate at her tiny kitchen table with a cloth napkin and music in the background.
Within months, her inflammation markers dropped, her skin looked brighter, and her energy became more stable.
“What I learned in Crete wasn’t a diet,” Merida says. “It was a way of living. Slower. Greener. Kinder.”
Today, she shares those lessons with her own family. Even her young nieces have taken a liking to roasted eggplant and hummus. “Longevity,” she adds, “starts with how you eat today.”
