Nourishing The Soul

Humans are social creatures. It is one of our basic human needs to express ourselves to others, to tell our story and to have our story be heard. The social aspect is important because it gives us validation and allows us to let go.

One place where this social exchange traditionally took place was around meals. As Michael Pollan points out in his book In Defense of Food, people are increasingly eating alone. Another place where these exchanges took place was while performing manual labor such as preserving and canning food. You don't need a book to know that people don't can and preserve foods themselves as much as they use to.

Although there has been a recent resurgence in popularity of activities such as making sauerkraut, the economics of it (the one or two dollars it costs for a can of food vs. the hours spent doing it yourself) makes it clear that this is done not out of a necessity to feed the body. Therefore there must be some other reason for canning your own food. I propose that the resurgence in interest in traditional food preparation is not about feeding the body, but instead about nourishing the soul.

And that is exactly what I aim to do with my Sauerkraut Dinner Parties. Nourish your soul by creating a space where you can express yourself, be heard, and feel validated. I'm offering a ritual of letting go.