Intentional Communities Newsletter: July 9, 2011

Promoting Community Living & Cooperative Lifestyles
Communities magazine, Directory, Video, and more

The Natural Kitchen:
Your Guide to the Sustainable Food Revolution
by Deborah Eden Tull
Softcover, 281 pages, 9" X 6.25", 2010

I teach sustainability courses, and for many years, one of my favorite has been a workshop called "Sustainable Kitchens". When I first got my hands on Deborah Eden Tull's The Natural Kitchen , I felt met: here was the book that I would have loved to write! Plus she has pieces that I could never quite articulate, and material that brought my own thinking up to date. I'd love it if everyone who eats would read this one.

Tull talks about the predictable stuff (dietary choices, organics, local food, compost) and talks about them with intelligence and clarity. But she also talks about reverence, and community, energy use and incorporating kids into your kitchen routine. She details making your own cleaning products. Why buy organic and then prepare your food in a toxic environment? Even if you think you "get" food, this one is likely to have more for you to take in and digest.

Tull's roots in community (years of cooking at the Zen Monastery Peace Center) show regularly in this book, and this is a great example of community-derived knowledge being exported for the benefit of a wider audience. Part activism, part personal growth guide, part resource directory, The Natural Kitchen is destined to become a classic.