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3 years 44 weeks

Personal Information

Real name

Grace Yoder

Location

Ypsilanti, MI

Website

http://gracified.livejournal.com/

Bio

I'm Grace. I fell madly and hopelessly in love with food after I started gardening in the spring of 2006. I realized then that the food we eat is meant for much more than just sustenance. I learned that everything we put on our plates tells a story, everything we eat becomes a part of us. I realized that eating was... spiritual. Forgive me for perhaps coming off as fanatical or cheesy, but I suspect that anyone who belongs to a foodie website probably has had experience with this in some form or another.

To break it down: I saw my seeds turn into plants. I saw my plants grow and flourish under my care and give me fruit. When the season was over I had experienced something new. In addition to the miracle of life all around me, I saw that food wasn't necessarily something that I was entitled to. It was something that took work and patience, planning and nurturing. I had developed a relationship with my food.

I started doing research. I learned all I could about where my food came from and what story it told. I learned about my body and what it really needed. I had a thirst for information that was difficult to quench. I was sad to discover, but not surprised, that the food we eat is in jeopardy. I saw that with the industrialization of food came a whirlwind of change. We've sacrificed quality, sustainability, nutrition, land, morals, animal rights... the list goes on and on. I saw that there was so much at stake when it comes to the production of our food. Only in the past hundred years or so has food taken the shape that it does today. That means that until recently, EVERYONE had a relationship with their food, it's the way the world worked. So much is affected by this process of give and take- and that is what it is, whether we give back good things or bad. It is a process that it demands respect. Whether we realize it or not, every step we take is affecting the world around us.

I suppose I had a spiritual revelation of sorts. Not only did I get to have a first-hand relationship with the world around me in a way I had never thought I could- I was able to slowly but surely do my part to improve things. Not only do I get to help change the world, I get to EAT. I get to go to church in my back yard with mud caked hands. How sweet is that?
Now that's just my story about how food tickled my soul, but I said nothing about how it tickles my tastebuds... Well. I guess that's what this is all about anyway.

When I can't grow my own food, I do my best to get it from someone else's backyard. I am a fan of the Weston A. Price Foundation, although I don't agree with everything they say. I believe that meat eating is natural and very good for us, however I do not approve of the meat industry's practices and therefore I try to only eat meat from local sources that treat their animals with respect and kindness.

Anyway, I have loads of fun. I'm always trying to learn new things about cooking, so I hope to keep improving and growing. Yum.