What does it mean to “eat with grace”? The writers whose essays and poems are collected here have many answers, but they all come back to something essential: connection—with each other, with our inner selves, with the earth that sustains us. Whether foraging, baking, or gardening, digging their hands into the soil of their backyards or being seduced by the exotic fruits of a far-off place, these writers praise the sensuous and spiritual ways that our food can nourish us. As Darra Goldstein writes in her foreword, “When we eat good food, we smell and taste the earth, and thereby reconnect with it: this is what it means to eat with grace.”

Contributors

Tamar Adler, Barbara L. Baer, Tamara Dean, Jane Hirshfield, Barbara Kingsolver, Maxine Kumin, Laurie Kutchins, Robin MacArthur, Gary Paul Nabhan, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Deborah Slicer, Joni Tevis, Katrina Vandenberg, Allison Wallace

Cover photograph by John Grue

Published: May 2014