A Personal Note
I come from a lineage of cooks. And for 40-plus years I’ve been at the forefront of teaching, consulting and writing about healing with and delighting in our daily foods. Indeed, nurturing is embedded in my heart’s core.
Soon after college in 1969, I relocated to Boston and the residential school of macrobiotic teachers Aveline and Michio Kushi. We learned how to prepare foods to maximize their flavor and medicinal properties. We also studied how diet affects our physical, emotional and mental health. It was a fascinating education.
To further explore the correlation between diet and health, in 1973 I studied at the College of Chinese Acupuncture in Kenilworth, England.
Earlier it was my farming grandparents who imbedded in me a respect for our daily foods. I’ve delighted in walking fields with farmers on several continents and talking crop. I’ve helped bring in the harvest with cottage-crafted food producers ranging from seaweed to experimental grain varieties.
As the first writer in this country to “discover” quinoa, I then wrote the first book on the subject, Quinoa the Supergrain.
My book The Splendid Grain won both a James Beard Award and a Julia Child/IACP Award. My most recently revised book, The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia, has been in continuous print for over 25 years.
My studies of traditional food-ways and Five-Element Chinese Medicine have formed my understanding of healing with food. Reinforcing this are my dietary counseling practice and being a mother and grandmother. I currently live in Ashland, Oregon.
May the information on these pages serve you well and may all be well nourished.
