Harvest 2011

State of Grace

By Ali Berlow, EDITOR

In this issue we offer some challenges to the perception about what defines harvest in our day-to-day lives. Every meal is a harvest with the potential means to sustain, whether it’s a feast for loved ones or a Tuesday night in the dead of winter. But what about all those that exist in the margins?

Are bruised fruits, past-due juice, and dented cans of soup rescued from the dumpster, a harvest? In Robert Booz and David Welch’s “Abandoned Abundance” the unseemly and the unseen reveals itself to be extraordinary. Is our nation’s food grown and harvested fairly? Too frequently people who make up our food chain fall between the cracks and suffer for it. Every day, Lunch Ladies serve meals to the growing minds and bodies of our communities’ children. How are they meeting the challenges of balancing federal nutrition requirements, budgets, fresh food and young tastebuds? Nose-to-tongue-to-tail eating, while considered lowly to some is tasty waste-not to others.

Any meal is an opportunity to reconsider what harvest means to health, spirit, environment and community. Setting the table, smoothing out the napkins, filling the glasses–therein lie moments of grace. With knives peacefully facing in and a match to the candle, we say a blessing. May this season of darkness be illuminated by your light–those burning and the ones waiting to be lit–and may they all come brightly together, at your table.

Our next issue will be out in April ‘12. As always, we thank our advertisers, subscribers, and the readers who purchase our magazine. Your continued support is greatly appreciated. Eat well and peace.