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The hippies were right

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I often wonder why the current economic downturn, though it certainly has caused certain useless and paranoid sorts of cultural uproar, has not led to more positive attempts at adaptation like we had in the 1970s. Though the 1970s experimentation with back-to-the-earth movements were mostly eventually abandoned as failures, still those movements changed many people permanently.

The script for these movements, you’ll remember, came from publications that are now classics — the Foxfire books, for example, and the Whole Earth Catalog.

In those days, there was one cookbook that you’d be sure to find in any health food store — the Ten Talents cookbook by Frank and Rosalie Hurd. This cookbook is still in print in a revised edition.

While unboxing books yesterday, I came across my copy of the Ten Talents cookbook. I have the original 1968 edition. It remains the best vegan cookbook I have ever seen.

Another book that was very important in the hippy era was Jethro Kloss’ Back to Eden, which also became a hippy handbook.

These two books — Ten Talents (1968) and Back to Eden (written in the 1930s) — are decades ahead of their time. It is remarkable how they are in accord with all the research that has been done on health, disease, and diet since the books were written.

4 Comments

  1. mountain madness wrote:

    Thanks for the suggestion.. I ordered it today. I was a vegetarian until I got pregnant and then I craved red meat… It was wierd, however when I went back to eating vegan my iron dropped so low I was passing out. I don’t like the pill form of iron and try to get my iron from greens and lugumes… Any good idea’s for high iron meals??? My husband is a chef and will enjoy this book… Good Christmas Gift… Thanks again!

    Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 12:41 pm | Permalink
  2. admin wrote:

    Hmmm. I would think that lots of greens and legumes would take care of the need for iron. You’re probably aware of how vitamin C helps improve the absorption of vegetable sources of iron. It’s definitely something you’ll want to keep in eye on if iron deficiency has been a problem in the past…

    Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 1:05 pm | Permalink
  3. mountain madness wrote:

    Got my copy in the mail today… Can’t wait to try out some of the dishes! I love the Food Combining section.. I don’t think I’ll be able to wait till Christmas to give this to my husband… I might have to try some of these dishes on Thanksgiving!!! Have a happy Holiday this week!!!

    Monday, November 23, 2009 at 12:26 pm | Permalink
  4. admin wrote:

    Great! Be sure to let me know what your favorites are…

    Tuesday, November 24, 2009 at 10:47 am | Permalink

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