“It seems to me that our three basic needs, for food and security and love, are so mixed and mingled and entwined that we cannot straightly think of one without the others. So it happens that when I write of hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth and the love of it and the hunger for it… and then the warmth and richness and fine reality of hunger satisfied… and it is all one.” – M.F.K. Fisher
Gastronomic Permaculture is not simply an idea for a blog, but rather gastronomic permaculture integrates ourselves, our food, our community and our earth and recognizes that every meal is accomplished in an ecosystem, and it is the convergence our our three basic needs: nourishment, security and love. The Gastronomic Permaculture Manifesto outlines the basics of how to source, shop, cook, eat and design in a way that is not only good for the environment, but in a way that is good for your mental and physical wellbeing as well as the wellbeing of everyone else you come into contact with inside your intentionally designed food system.
The purpose of the blog is the inspire, educate and provide resources to those who are either already familiar with Permaculture or those who have never encountered Permaculture, but are interested in cooking and eating in a regenerative fashion. The eventual goal is to also start a conversation amongst the blog community as to the nature of cooking and eating sustainably and hopefully have it begin to take a life of it’s own, allowing others to change and adjust the principles in a way that they think fulfills the ethics and principles of Permaculture more directly.
For the duration of the school year, a post a week with the addition of a guest post is the goal for frequency of updates, but with each post fulfilling one of the three goals of the website. Photos, illustration and video would all be key elements to posts, making the schedule rather ambitious. During break, the schedule would potentially change to two a week and two guest posts.
Because of the nature of Gastronomic Permaculture, the guest posting is actually a rather key element. Since certain aspects of Gastronomic Permaculture are rather abstract, having multiple writers allows for the reader to have a fuller understanding of the flexibility of the principles and how it’s possible to cook and eat following the ethics and principals of Gastronomic Permaculture in any situation, be it in a college residence hall, a home with limited kitchen access, or even with no kitchen at all. It is also an important element because it takes what is normally a very lofty and academic definition for both Permaculture and Gastronomic Permaculture and makes it more approachable, through having multiple people explaining why it’s easily done simply through thoughtful and intentional purchasing and choices.
Over five months of research has gone into the work I currently have and have collaborated on with Ema Williamson. Throughout those five months of research, I have failed to find anything that combines Permaculture and cooking in a well researched and debated way, let alone takes those principles and makes it accessible for the average, food-enthusiast reader.
There are many other blogs that talk about these subjects separately, Deb Perelman’s Smitten Kitchen, Green Kitchen Stories, Kelpie Wilson’s Green Your Head, David Holmgren’s Design site, and Geoff Lawton are all bloggers and authors who have approached cooking and Permaculture in ways that have been influential in their particular field, but none have combined the two in a way that is thoughtful, meaningful and useful. None have entirely pieced together the full idea of how to create a sustainable food system that fully realizes the potential of a regeneratively functioning food system.
Perelman, Deb. Smitten Kitchen. Martha’s Circle, n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2013. http://smittenkitchen.com/
Frenkiel, David, and Luise Frenkiel. “Green Kitchen Stories » The Healthy Vegetarian Recipe Blog.” Green Kitchen Stories » The Healthy Vegetarian Recipe Blog. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2013. http://www.greenkitchenstories.com/
Wilson, Kelpie. “Green Your Head.” ‘Green Your Head’ N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2013. http://www.greenyourhead.com/
Holmgren, David. “Holmgren Design.” Holmgren Design. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2013. http://holmgren.com.au/
