Secret Buddhist Reveal and Book Giveaway: Bryant Terry (VIDEO)
Brilliant and historically grounded Afro-Diasporic recipes — like Sweet Coconut Ginger Creamed Corn, Jamaican Veggie Patties, and Collard Confetti — are reason enough to appreciate the work of eco-chef and cookbook author Bryant Terry. And there’s also his fabulous food justice activism, including a web series that highlights urban farms in communities that need them most. But did you know that Terry also draws inspiration from the Venerable Thích Nhất Hạnh and engaged Buddhism?
Listen as Bryant shares with Turning Wheel Media: how he found Buddhism; lessons from unsuccessful ethical proselytizing; and practicing mindfulness in the kitchen and gratitude at the table.
Then, enter to win a copy of Bryant’s latest cookbook, The Inspired Vegan! (Directions for entry below. Many thanks to Maia Duerr for showing us how a book giveaway done on her Liberated Life Project blog!)
A great big thanks goes out to Ecaterina Burton, Laurel Maha, and especially Matt Ducot for making this video for Turning Wheel.
Enjoy!
How To Enter the Giveaway Drawing for The Inspired Vegan
1. Comment on this post. You can say anything you want in your comment, but if you need some inspiration, you can share a meaningful experience in your dharma practice that involves food or food justice.
2. Share the link from BPF’s Facebook page. *Update: for us to see your Share, you gotta (1) Be friends with us and share from our post so we can track it. (Come on, be our friend! We’re not so bad. :) OR (2) Make sure that your post is visible to everyone. If you have any questions, please message us on Facebook.
3. Tweet about it. post this on your Twitter feed: RT @BuddhistPeace Secret Buddhist Bryant Terry video and book giveaway… enter here! http://wp.me/p1DCWU-Ci
4. Sign up for our e-newsletter to get TWM/BPF updates in your email inbox. Bonus: If you’re already a subscriber, you don’t need to sign up again — by leaving a comment below, you’ll automatically have two entries.
Deadline to enter is 7:00 PM PST, Sunday, August 5. We’ll draw the winner and announce the results on Monday, August 6. Good luck!
[Photo: Hidden Buddha Head by Nopadon Wongpakdee. Available for purchase here.]
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Amanda
This book looks awesome, I look forward to checking it out!
secundra beasley
I loved the book he collaborated with Anne Lappe. I also thrilled that he has included foods that I can find in the inner city in this upcoming cookbook. I look forward of this book taking my cooking up a notch.
Melinda Vida
Bryant Terry inspired me when I was 18 years old to follow my heart and lead local initiatives in my community to start a community garden.. and now that I am older, I am focusing on health coaching families & youth in a yummy, healthy, sustainable way of eating using local resources (i.e. local farms/gardens). I’m ecstatic to find out that he also practices Buddhism.
Annemarie
The recipes mentioned are inspiring! Sweet Coconut Ginger Sweet Corn? Wow! I will definitely look for this one.
Colleen
Bryant Terry has been a very grounding source of inspiration to me as a long-time vegan. I am eager to read this, especially as someone newly approaching life with greater mindfulness.
Tracy Dixon
This interview makes me so happy! I’ve been inspired by Bryant Terry’s book and recipes since seeing him speak at The New Parish last fall, and have been planning to buy the book ever since. And now he is out as a Buddhist, and he ties together so beautifully the practice, the preparation and eating of food, and food justice as engaged Buddhism. Thank you.
Katie Loncke
I know, right? I may need to pick one up for myself since as a staffperson I can’t win the giveaway. :) Good luck to you!
Katie Loncke
Mm, yes, that was Grub, right? I feel you, being able to find the ingredients is half the battle! (Though I’m fortunate to live in a place surrounded by corner stores but kinda on the border of a wealthier neighborhood, so also near a large health foods market.) Best of luck to you in the drawing and thanks for sharing about your cooking practice!
Katie Loncke
Likewise. :) And what a fabulous story of inspiration transforming into action! Thanks for sharing, Melinda.
Charlene
I am not much of a cook, not a vegan but this interview has inspired to dabble a bit more with both. Congrats Bryant and looking forward to reading.
Paul DoMyong Sireci
The book looks awesome. I’ve followed his work for some time. I think vegan ism is one deep way to live the truth of interdependence.
Imani Constance
I got Bryant’s book Vegan Soul Kitchen and have been smiling ever since. He is such an inspiration and ALL of the recipes are soooooooo yummy. I knew there was some good spiritual energy inspiring his vision…Namaste
dallas
I’m super excited to learn about this book – it looks delicious and amazing! The way we eat is so tied in with everything else in our lives – I’m happy to see a cookbook author making that explicit. I also love the organization of the recipes by meal, such an awesome idea!
Catherine Vade Bon Coeur
I can’t win either, Katie, since I refuse to do Facebook or Twitter. I leave the tweeting to the beautiful birds outside my window. But I will buy the book.
Miriam
I am so impressed with the radical shift in our collective thinking about food from routine nourishment or entertaining social activity to a mindful and committed spiritual practice. I am as concerned about everyday nutrition in the USA as I am about providing for the poorly nourished in other parts of the world. For example, what can we do in our communities now to alleviate the sickness of poor quality and low energy in our young people. Most of the time they do not have a clue about how to sustain life with healthy eating. Many of them eat no more intelligently than an undernourished child living in a Third World economy, even though many of them now have the means at hand to do so. Raising awareness in the public schools is my main hope now. I feel that people like Bryant Terry who are writing and talking about these issues will make it happen sooner.
Katie Loncke
Understandable refusals, Catherine. But fortunately, just by leaving this comment your name will be entered in the drawing one time, and if you’re not already signed up for BPF’s e-newsletter you can do that to double your chances of winning! Sometimes a little luck is all it takes. :) So maybe hold off on buying the book until August 6th when the winner is announced!
Patrick S. O'Donnell
Perhaps the folks interested in this topic would find a recent blog post of mine of interest, especially the appended reading list at the end, which is intended to help set the socio-economic, political, environmental and especially ethical parameters for discussions of “food justice:” http://aglaw.blogspot.com/2012/07/global-and-environmentally-sensitive.html
Best wishes,
Patrick
Michael Symonds
I am so glad to read about someone who is adhering to cultural traditions and opening to a new way of living them while addressing the important area of food politics. I sent the link to a friend who writes about food politics.
Shaz
Really inspiring – loved the idea of mindfulness in the kitchen. Really resonates with me.
Patti Taylor
I had the occaision to speak with Bryant Terry soon after Grub was published. I recall that for some reason his phone number was also published with the review of the book, and I called him on a whim. He was such a gracious person, he did not show any sense of superiority, or haughtiness, he answered my questions about the book honestly, listened to my anecdote about finding Diet for a Small Planet when I was a girl, it was on that response that I rushed out to buy his books. I am still not a comitted vegan but
I love his books, I love the recipes, the stories associated with them and the culture that binds us. He is an important voice in the black community for care of yourself through healthy eating and care for the planet as well. I will once again be rushing out to buy this book, (that is if I don’t win it.)
Mushim
Excellent video interview; I especially love Bryant Terry’s story about how he knew his grandmother was cooking when he came into the house, even before he smelled the food, because he could hear her singing hymns. Why don’t we have a round table discussion here online in which everyone contributes their own story of their connection to preparation of food when they (you) were growing up? I grew up in Avon Trailer Park in Greensburg, Ohio (near Akron) and the trailer park had been built in an old apple orchard that extended, with overgrown fields, way out back. The kids all played together in the summer and we’d go down the old road, which we called Dead End Road, on mini-expeditions. There were blackberry bushes and we’d pick quarts and quarts of berries. My mother would make open top fresh blackberry pies — the ripe berries were cooked just a little and the juices sweetened and thickened a little — and put Cool Whip on top. She always used Crisco to make her pie crusts, which were light and flaky. Sometimes if the kids whose moms didn’t make pies would bring her berries, she would make pies for them. She was a loving and giving person, always well-liked and respected in all the places she lived and worked. And she was a really good cook. She took her time and made things like cream puffs, pies, pot roasts, scalloped potatoes, roast beef, fried chicken, green salads, for our family until she trained me to be the family cook. I cooked for a family of 5 from the time I was 12 years old until I left home to go to college. Whoops! — I guess this isn’t a very vegan post, but maybe the blackberry pies would qualify?
Bruce Olsen
As a Zen newbie, I have been trying to incorporate more vegan dishes into my diet, so this book looks like a good resource!
Norm Keegel
I had a wake-up call 4 weeks ago – heart attacks and double bypass. Now much more conscious of what I eat. As little processed food as possible. plenty of fruits and veges, organic if possible. low salt. No refined carbs. Beyond that I’m looking for info – how much protein and fat? Should I go easy on whole grains? Only dairy i eat is yoghurt. Otherwise transitioning to vegan.
Nik
I’m not sure if the entry instructions require we do all four steps, or any one of the four. I don’t use twitter, unfortunately, but I’ll happily do the other 3 (i would have, contest or not).
Dawn Haney
Hi Nik -
You don’t have to do all 4 steps to be entered. One step = one entry.
So a comment + Facebook share + newsletter signup = 3 chances to win the cookbook!
Thanks for your help spreading the word!
Janis Sankowski
Book looks awesome!
Dawn Haney
Cool Whip & Crisco! I also grew up on these Midwestern baking staples as a child in Indiana, Michigan, and a year in Bellefontaine, Ohio.
When I first read your comment, I joked that, “My mom would have totally used Cool Whip & Crisco in her pies. If she ever made pies, that is.” I don’t think of my mom as someone who took pleasure in cooking or baking. She always made sure there was food on the table, but it was more a chore than a gift.
But I totally forgot about the year we moved to a house in Michigan where the neighbors had two apple trees that were right next to the property line. They were happy when my mom decided to collect up all the apples to make pies. She took pies everywhere she went that fall – to work, to visit family and friends back in Indiana, to high school band events. For that period, she was a baker, always showing up with her hands full of deliciousness.
It wasn’t too long after we moved that the neighbors decided to chop down those apple trees. My mom fought them about it – they were so close to the property line, it was questionable who “owned” them. But the trees came down, and my mom was too practical to go to the grocery to buy the piles of apples she would need for pies.