Book Review: “Ravenous” by Dayna Macy, 5 Spoons For Sure!

If you had to survive for a few days relying only on the food growing in your neighborhood, what would you eat? If you dedicated a portion of your backyard to growing your food, what could you grow there? Where is the closest farm and what is in its fields right now? These are just a few of the many questions that came to mind as I read Dayna Macy’s thoroughly appealing new book “Ravenous.” In it she takes readers on an odyssey through her favorite foods and her lifelong struggle with her weight and eating issues. Along the way she connects us with the sources of our food and acquaints us, in very personal terms, with practices such as foraging, organic growing and humane animal raising and handling. To her credit, her writing about those intriguing and politically provocative topics is never preachy or self-righteous, but thoughtful. To my relief, “Ravenous” is also not some dreary tell-all about food obsessions and emotional problems. Macy is much too keen to fall into either trap. What makes “Ravenous” interesting, enjoyable and ultimately so rewarding is her clarity.

The book’s chapters are organized around her favorite foods, like cheese, chocolate and olives, and each ends with a recipe. Yet the book never becomes predictable or formulaic. A long-time yoga practitioner, her writing has a presence that guides the mind’s eye through the book’s many settings and subjects. Seamlessly Macy takes us from a meat market where sausage is made to the origins of her food issues in suburban New Jersey, to an olive grove in California, to a joyful family seder and through so many touching and engaging points in between. Ultimately it’s the yoga that helps Macy come to terms with food, her body and her weight. By the end of her journey, and the book, we celebrate her success, her honesty and her newfound peace of mind.

Dayna will be a guest on the “Hay House Book Club” on Friday July 29th at 11:00 A.M. PST over at Hay House Radio. Fortunately I got to be part of the taping of this episode, and I must say that it was the most fun one to date. That may have been because we book clubbers got to talking about food. In any case, being in the delightful company of these readers was a wonderful experience and getting to meet Dayna on the phone made it even better. Her presence is a gift and she has lots to share. As a regular commentator on the show, and for all official reasons, my copy of “Ravenous” was provided by Hay House. You are welcome to join the “Ravenous” discussion on Facebook and to tune in live at Hay House Radio for this edition of this “Book Club” (or one of its many rebroadcasts). Bon appetit.