It's been a long road and a long week, but I am almost finished writing my book about our relationship with food on Bainbridge Island.
I started out as The Clueless Eater, and now I am - slightly less clueless. Almost thirty people indulged me in interviews where I asked about their families, their histories, and what they do for a living. I also asked what they thought the island would look like in the future, and if we could support ourselves with food grown on the island. One friend, writer and anthropologist Ruth Behar, called it an ethnography, and in a way, I suppose, it is. But I asked very specific questions in an attempt to answer my own questions about how we can live in balance with the world around us.
Farmers, grocers, fishermen and restaurant owners all gave me thoughtful answers, and I did extensive research on the history of the island, including the deep knowledge of a people who have lived here for around 10,000 years, the Suquamish. I don't claim to have all the answers, but I hope that by showing these ideas in conjunction with each other, we can start a dialogue to preserve the qualities that make this island a food oasis. With the recent climate change accords in Paris, more and more people and governments are realizing that it is up to us, right now, to live sustainably if we are to survive.
If we are to save this planet, the most able, those with the most flexibility, wealth and knowledge will need to show that it can be done. If not us, then who will?
I left the island a week ago to spend time in a cabin by myself to write. On the way out, I grabbed some groceries, including kale, yogurt, granola, dried fruit, split peas, and other easy to prepare food. The cabins are furnished, sort of, and usually have salt and pepper. But no! What was I to do with this naked kale? I tore it up and washed it, and chopped up some of the dried fruit and mixed them. Pretty good. I'll call it desperation salad and fix it more intentionally another day, maybe with a few nuts and a little vinaigrette.
Until then, no more blogs until Love Song to an Island Food Oasis is published by the University of Washington Press, in the fall of 2016. But feel free to write to me if you have questions. When I have a schedule of readings and appearances, I will post them.
Be well! Eat well! And ask questions...
I started out as The Clueless Eater, and now I am - slightly less clueless. Almost thirty people indulged me in interviews where I asked about their families, their histories, and what they do for a living. I also asked what they thought the island would look like in the future, and if we could support ourselves with food grown on the island. One friend, writer and anthropologist Ruth Behar, called it an ethnography, and in a way, I suppose, it is. But I asked very specific questions in an attempt to answer my own questions about how we can live in balance with the world around us.
Farmers, grocers, fishermen and restaurant owners all gave me thoughtful answers, and I did extensive research on the history of the island, including the deep knowledge of a people who have lived here for around 10,000 years, the Suquamish. I don't claim to have all the answers, but I hope that by showing these ideas in conjunction with each other, we can start a dialogue to preserve the qualities that make this island a food oasis. With the recent climate change accords in Paris, more and more people and governments are realizing that it is up to us, right now, to live sustainably if we are to survive.
If we are to save this planet, the most able, those with the most flexibility, wealth and knowledge will need to show that it can be done. If not us, then who will?
I left the island a week ago to spend time in a cabin by myself to write. On the way out, I grabbed some groceries, including kale, yogurt, granola, dried fruit, split peas, and other easy to prepare food. The cabins are furnished, sort of, and usually have salt and pepper. But no! What was I to do with this naked kale? I tore it up and washed it, and chopped up some of the dried fruit and mixed them. Pretty good. I'll call it desperation salad and fix it more intentionally another day, maybe with a few nuts and a little vinaigrette.
Until then, no more blogs until Love Song to an Island Food Oasis is published by the University of Washington Press, in the fall of 2016. But feel free to write to me if you have questions. When I have a schedule of readings and appearances, I will post them.
Be well! Eat well! And ask questions...