KitchenCosmologyNourishing Engagement with the Living Universe

In 2000, the number of overweight people in the world for the first time matched the number of undernourished people -- 1.1 billion each. . . all of them are starving, just for different things.

"Simply saying, 'I'm going to make a choice about the way I eat', this is a giant step." ~Alice Waters, Chef and Founder of Chez Panisse

"It’s the American dream, the American way: freedom, disconnection, food as product, food as fuel, never having to interact. The basic rule, of course, is to not pay very close attention to the stuff – food, sit-com, people, or game show – coming in and then to be just a bit baffled as to why you feel so undernourished in the midst of all this plentitude."  ~Ed Brown, Tomato Blessings and Radish Teachings

Great Sources

Books

These are personal recommendations from my own explorations during the past several years. They represent books and websites that, in my opinion, have something profound to say and say it in a way that is both accessible and powerful. If you are interested in a specific topic and would like recommendations based on that, please email me. If you’ve got a great source of your own to share, let me know that as well.

While each of these books is a treasure, the five or six that have most profoundly influenced me are: The Spell of the Sensuous by Abrams, Ed Brown’s book Tomato Blessings and Radish Teachings, Hope’s Edge by Lappe, Meg Wheatley’s book A Simpler Way, and Presence by a group of others from the Society for Organizational Learning.

Abelman, Michael, Fields of Plenty: A Farmers Journey in Search of Real Food and the People Who Grow It, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA, 2005.

Abrams, David, The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World, Random House, New York, 1996.

Brown, Edward Espe, Tomato Blessings and Radish Teachings, Riverhead Books, New York, 1997.

Buhner, Stephen Harrod, The Lost Language of Plants: The Ecological Importance of Plant Medicines to Life on Earth, Chelsea Green Publishing, White River Junction, VT. 2000.

Buhner, Stephen Harrod,The Secret Teachings of Plants: The Intelligence of the Heart in the Direct Perception of Nature, Bear & Company, Rochester, VT, 2004.

Danaan, Clea,Sacred Land: Intuitive Gardening for Personal, Political & Environmental Change, Llewellyn Publications, Woodbury,MN, 2007.

Fallon, Sally,Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrates, New Trends Publishing, Washington, DC, 2001.

Friedman, Lenore and Susan Moon, eds., Being Bodies: Buddhist Women on the Paradox of Embodiment, Shambhala Publications, Inc., Boston, MA, 1997.

Gladstar, Rosemary., Rosemary Gladstar's Family Herbal: A Guide to Living Life with Energy, Health & Vitality, Storey Books, North Adams, MA, 2001.

Halweil, Brian, Eat Here: Reclaiming Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 2004.

Jensen, Derrick, A Language Older Than Words, Chelsea Green Publishing Company, White River Junction, NY, 2000.

Katz, Sandor Ellix,, Wild Fermentation, Chelsea Green Publishing Company, White River Junction, VT, 2003.

Lappe, Frances Moore and Anna Lappe, Hope’s Edge, Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, New York, 2002.

Macy, Joanna R. and Molly Young Brown, Coming Back to Life: Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World, New Society Publishers, 1989

Macy, Joanna R., World as Lover, World as Self, Parallax Press, Berkeley, CA, 1991

Nestle, Marion, Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health, University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA, 2002

Norberg-Hodge, Helena and Todd Merrifield and Steven Gorelick, Bringing the Food Economy Home: Local Alternatives to Global Agribusiness, Kumarian Press, Inc., Bloomfield, CT, 2002.

Phillips, Jan, Divining the Body: Reclaim the Holiness of Your Physical Self, Skylight Paths Publishing, 2005.

Plotkin, Bill, Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche, New World Library, Novato, CA, 2003.

Prentice, Jessica, Full Moon Feast: Food and the Hunger for Connection, Chelsea Green Publishing, White River Junction, VT, 2006.

Remen, Rachel Naomi, Kitchen Table Wisdom, Riverhead Books, New York, 1996.

Senge, Peter and Joseph Jaworski, C. Otto Scharmer and Betty Sue Flowers, Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future, The Society for Organizational Learning, Inc., Cambridge, MA, 2004.

Singer, Peter and Jim Mason, The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter, Rodale Press, Inc., 2006.

Starhawk, The Earth Path: Grounding Your Spirit in the Rhythms of Nature, Harper San Francisco, 2004.

Swimme, Brian, The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos: Humanity and the New Story, Orbis Books, Maryknoll, New York, 1996.

Swimme, Brian, The University is a Green Dragon: A Cosmic Creation Story, Bear & Company, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1984.

Wheatley, Margaret J. and Myron Kellner-Rogers, A Simpler Way, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco, CA, 1996.

Worldwatch Institute, Vital Signs: 2006-2007, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 2006.

Organizations & Websites

Bioneers: Revolution from the Heart of Nature, www.bioneers.org. Bioneers (like pioneers but with a B!) is primarily focused on two areas: 1) creating collaboration among those working to create a more sustainable and life enhancing future, and 2) communicating the work being done on this front so that it and we are empowered. Bioneers vision of “environment” encompasses the natural landscape, cultivated landscape, biodiversity, cultural diversity, watersheds, community economics, and spirituality. Bioneers seeks to unite nature, culture and spirit in an Earth-honoring vision, and create economic models founded in social justice.

 Their website is a great source of information about what is happening in the environmental and social justice communities. They also have an incredible array of educational materials created from many years of Bioneers Conferences. . . And, if you haven’t attended the Bioneers Conference in Marin County, CA, each Fall, I highly recommend it. You will be inspired and altered.

The Chef’s Collaborative, www.chefscollaborative.org .The Chefs Collaborative is a national network of more than 1,000 members of the food community who promote sustainable cuisine by celebrating the joys of local, seasonal, and artisanal cooking. The Chefs Collaborative works with chefs and the greater food community to foster a more sustainable food supply through educational materials and workshops. The website has a list of participating chefs and restaurants, information about sustainable seafood and non-farmed meats.

Planet Waves, www.planetwaves.net This is one of the best sources I know for weekly, monthly and birthday horoscopes, astrological analysis of current political and social events, and just good solid writing about the world we’re dealing with and the world we want to create.

Slow Food, www.slowfoodusa.org . Recognizing that the enjoyment of wholesome food is essential to the pursuit of happiness, Slow Food USA is an educational organization dedicated to stewardship of the land and ecologically sound food production; to the revival of the kitchen and the table as centers of pleasure, culture, and community; to the invigoration and proliferation of regional, seasonal culinary traditions; to the creation of a collaborative, ecologically-oriented, and virtuous globalization; and to living a slower and more harmonious rhythm of life. What more do I need to say?

 Visionary Activism, www.visionaryactivism.com This is the site for Caroline Casey, a brilliant visionary astrologer and activist who can be heard regularly on the Pacifica Radio Network. Devoted to the idea that “the Imagination lays the tracks for the Reality Train to follow,” Casey is committed to “cultivating the imagination and the capacity for complex story-telling as key strategies for personal and social change.” Although reading her is wonderful, listening to her is a far more satisfying experience. Incredibly insightful and very, very funny. and collective change.

 Worldwatch Institute, www.worldwatch.org .The Worldwatch Institute is an independent research organization that works for an environmentally sustainable and socially just society, in which the needs of all people are met without threatening the health of the natural environment or the well-being of future generations. By providing compelling, accessible, and fact-based analysis of critical global issues, Worldwatch informs people around the world about the complex interactions between people, nature, and economies. Worldwatch focuses on the underlying causes of and practical solutions to the world's problems, in order to inspire people to demand new policies, investment patterns and lifestyle choices. Some of the best and most up-to-date information you’ll find on trends that affect the health and sustaina