About Rebecca Wood

Biography

Rebecca Wood has taught and written about healing with a sustainable diet since 1970.

Her book, The Splendid Grain, won both a James Beard Award and a Julia Child/IACP Award. Her most recent book, The New Whole Foods Encyclopedia, was a One Spirit Book Club (Quality Paperback Book division) main selection. She is currently revising it.

An Educational Consultant to numerous organizations in the Natural Foods Industry, she has also established two cooking schools.

Rebecca's articles appear in various publications including Ladies' Home Journal, Yoga Journal, Veggie Life, Men's Fitness, American Health and Utne Reader.

Rebecca resides near Boulder, Colorado.

A Personal Note

I come from a lineage of cooks. At our clan gatherings, grandma prepared the selection of game, other meats and trimmings; each daughter brought her signature dish. It was Aunt Mick's pickles, Aunt Barbara's hand-dipped chocolates, Aunt Roselyn's huckleberry pies, Aunt Anna's home-brewed root beer and my mom's tender crescent rolls.

At home, it was a given that my siblings and I would help mom and dad with the gardening and canning. We set aside hundreds of quart jars of tomatoes, peaches, apricots, pears, raspberries, tomatoes and cherries plus assorted jams and jellies—a respectably appointed fruit larder for our Mormon family of six.

These days, I appreciate my precious visits home during canning season to help my now 87-year old parents. I wish you could see the litany of their hands as they prep, scald, peel, pit, jar and then share the bottled peaches with their family. Such nurture in their kitchen duet!

Shortly after college in 1969, I relocated to Boston and the home of macrobiotic teachers Aveline and Michio Kushi. As a community, we observed and discussed how our whole foods diet affected physical, emotional and mental health. It was a fascinating education.

After twenty years of carefully following macrobiotics, I was shocked to have developed invasive third class cervical cancer. Fortunately, I was able to reverse the cancer by using natural methods which included adding meat back into my diet. In all, it was an effective lesson in moderation.

After three decades of writing in the alternative media about health advantages of organic and whole foods, it’s a great pleasure to see the message reaching critical mass.

On several continents I've walked the fields with farmers and visited cottage-crafted food producers. My studies of traditional food ways and Five-Element Chinese Medicine have formed my understanding of healing with food. Reinforcing this are my dietary counseling practice and being a mother and grandmother.

May the information on these many pages serve you well and may all be well nourished.