Free Full Moon Feast: Food And The Hunger For Connection Penned By Jessica Prentice Provided As EPub

book was very interesting, The author is some stripe of Christian but, obviously playing with lots of ideas, working to form a synergy of meaning from multiple cultures and traditions and stepping outside of the box.
I enjoyed her focus on community, and the social nature of food and eating, I feel the same way and thought many of her philosophical ideas were charming, There were lots of recipes I want to try at the ends of the chapters and I am looking forward to flipping through the seasonal sections as the year progresses to remind myself of the food cycles we spin through.
I admire the ideal that Jessica Prentice is aiming for: a world in which we are able to eat "locally grown, humanely raised foods" prepared via traditional methods.
In thirteen chapters, each dealing with a specific kind of food and named after a Native American or other traditional month, Prentice discusses each food, contrasting how it was historically raised and prepared with how we deal with it in our world of largescale agriculture and convenience foods.
She adds bits of her personal history with food and health through the book a former vegetarian, she eventually began eating meat again, in great part for health reasons.
Although she advocates an omnivorous diet, I thought that she was sympathetic to the reasons many people choose vegetarian and vegan diets.


My disagreements with this book are the same ones I have with many books of this type, There is no discussion of how to make this lovely local, organic, minimally processed food available and affordable to people on limited incomes.
Prentice advocates consuming raw milk I am not convinced that just raising cows on grass in open pastures would be enough to make this a safe option.
The author seems to have an uncritical acceptance of the writers whom she agrees with, and I wondered if there actually were some flaws in their work that should be looked into.
She acknowledges that many of the traditional ways to prepare food take time and effort:"Modern women may not relish the thought of spending six hours grinding grain by hand.
But I think we should take seriously the possibility that this kind of work can be deeply satisfying and even be a form of expression for the soul.
" Actually, I do take this possibility seriously, and would love my cooking to be deeply satisfying, But while Prentice is a professional chef, who presumably wants to spend her days working with food, how does this sixhoursormoreaday schedule work for people who want to work in other fields altogether But despite all this, I think Prentice's vision of a closer tie between food and community makes this book a worthy read.
Recommended by Eve.

I intended to just skim through this book so I could talk to Eve about it, after she posted that it was "life changing.
" But it sucked me in, and I ended up actually reading large sections of it, A fascinating and fun collection of the author's personal food journey, including an eating disorder, cultural myths, legends and stories, essays on the environment and how we can still have hope and find positive actions.


A fun journey, Jessica Prentice is a chef and food activist in the San Francisco Bay area who is an avid proponent for locally grown foods.
In other words, she urges us toward tradition, Full Moon Feast is a book about food and more with stories from Indigenous cultures of appreciation for what nourishes, It also tells of challenges and confusion related to relationship with food, Jessica advocates for small farmers who choose to uphold commitment and passion toward their way of life, At the same time, she documents methods of modern food production that have lost their humanity and encourage disconnection from our food sources and each other.


The author calls us back to a more engaged, mindful way of nourishing ourselves by connecting us to what food once heldthe circle of life.
She grounds the meaning and timing of food selection by our own natural rhythms and the thirteen lunar cycles, This book comforts and takes back to our rootseasily forgotten in a fast food universe, And its full of tempting recipes like Salmon Cured with Maple and Juniper, Summer Berries with Lavender Créme Anglaise or Sourdough Cheese Herb Scones.
If you allow it, Full Moon Feast will deepen your appreciation for the food in your life and cause you to start searching out locally grown produce as it did me.
So I'm notfinished this book, but I do know that I quite like it so far, It is not solely a cookbook, in fact, I'd say that the bulk of the book is dedicated to explanation,
There a lot of things I like about this book, such as NOT lumping Native cultures under "Native Americans", but finding sources and the proper names of bands/tribes, using their languages where she can.

Also, there is really good commentary on veganism and Indigenous reality, which might upset some notsocriticallythinking vegans, but that is not me, and I appreciated it.

Everything is cited, and it's just an all around fascinating read so far, This is not a cookbook, and it is not a diet book, If you are going in to it

thinking it is either of these, you will be disappointed, It does give some recipes at the end of each chapter, which all deal with a certain lunar period,
The book is more about reconnecting with the natural cycles of nature, and instead of focusing on seasonal eating by "Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring" she uses lunar cycles.
This isn't "New Age" as I have seen some other comments suggesting, She doesn't talk about angels, or spirits, or using quartz crystals to make you feel better, She isn't a mystic, she's a chef, She talks about environmental stewardship, responsible farming, reconnecting with natural cycles, even some pieces on what I considered feminism how preparing food was traditionally "women's work" because they were tasks you could perform while still caring for children, and women's work was vital and important to the survival of a people, not mocked or derogatory, as it can be now.
One of my favorite pieces is when she talks about how people in America are more shocked by not being able to drive than not being able to cook.
Cooking is a skill you need to take care of yourself, something I fullheartedly agree with, Women who tell me they "don't cook" say it almost with pride, as if cooking is beneath them, Cooking is beneath NO ONE, It is something we should all be doing, Grinding your own flour shouldn't be considered "hippie" or "foodie", in fact, in Europe, it's commonplace, These are the points Prentice makes, and I couldn't agree more,

I wouldn't suggest reading this book cover to cover, As it is December, I started with "Hunger Moon" and then skipped to "Wolf Moon" and read a few other of the cold weather moons before reading the spring, summer, fall ones.


Also, Prentice is based in California, You are not going to see Asian recipes, as that would go against her whole approach of eating what grows in your local region.
She clearly states this is more suited towards those who also live in the North American region, Nothing she stated seemed like hardcore dogma to be followed, but more like guidelines,

I will admit she romanticizes a little, but people have been romanticizing "country life" and "the old days" for a very long time.
It doesn't detract from the points she makes about taking care of the land and ourselves through our food systems,

Very great book, I will be buying it for myself and others, I thought that this book would embody everything that I love about food and counterculture, Alas, the writing was just so painful, . . the recipes never anything I would make and her awkwardly earnest delivery quoting her journal fromyears prior made it not worth my time.
Extraordinarily beautiful and informative book, Full of wonderful recipes for eating seasonally, locally, and healthily, Learn about the history of the pasteurization of milk, Learn and meditate upon the ways we can eat in balance with our body's needs, If Anthony Bourdain, Joesph Campbell, and Michael Pollan had a love child, it would be Jessica Prentice,

I loved this book, Loved. I want to drive to Richmond and find Jessica and talk to her, see her grain mill, and watch her cook.
I know that sounds stalker, Not the goal. It's just that I read this book with so much nodding and "yes!",

This book is where I needed sitelinkIn Defense of Food to go, Eating food is a good start, but filling our selves and bellies with connection is the key, I loved the diversity in this book, both in food, culture, and religion,

Some of my favorite quotes:

p,: "The point is to be wise, not rigid, "

p.: "The knowledge that every animal, plant, person, wind, and season is indebted to the fruit of everything else is an adult knowledge.
To get out of debt means you don't want to be a part of life, and you don't want to grow into an adult.
"

This book is amazing, I can't believe I have to take it back to the library! I really loved this book, It taught me about different phases of the moon and how people have traditionally eaten in partnership with the seasons and the earth.
Ill definitely be more mindful and will change some of my eating habits and food choices, Very good!! Absolutely brilliant book! I love her philosophy on food and eating, this is so much more than a cookbook.
It is really a wonderful read on this cultural history of food and eating, Her research into the indigenous traditions was just wonderful, It motivates you to really take a deeper look into what we eat and why we eat it, As well as brings to light in a beautiful way the problems with today's eating habits and almost forever lost food traditions.

With compelling articles and comprehensive sources, Prentice writes evocatively about our Western shift in diet and the backlash with our health.
This book does a good job of balancing the dietary warnings with celebrations of ancient food and the communal practice of collecting and cooking it.
She takes examples from all over the world, and clearly spent a long time researching methods and practices of worldwide cultures with regard to certain foods.
The recipes look great, and I can't wait to try some of them out I love when I find recipes that aren't the same thing I've always done, but with a slight variation.
She actually provides guidelines on lactofermentation, and wort drinks, How cool is that!

If you're contemplating becoming a locavore, growing your own food, trying to get in touch with a healthier and more holistic diet, or have some health problems that you want to try treating with nutrition, I recommend this book.
Also, if you're curious about the changes in human diet, the foods that seem to unite us as a species, and some definitely nonWestern flavor combinations, I recommend this book.
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