**Author:** [[3. Resources/Authors/Mary Beth Lind, Cathleen Hockman-Wert|Mary Beth Lind, Cathleen Hockman-Wert]] # Book Overview ![[Simply in Season Visual.excalidraw]] ## About the Authors Mary Beth Lind is a registered dietitian and nutritional consultant. She and her husband Lester are market gardeners in West Virginia, growing enough fruits and vegetables for year-round needs plus surplus for local farmers' markets. They founded Mountain Retreat, a Christian retreat center focused on the connection between spiritual and organic sources of life. She grew up eating local seasonal foods in the mountains of West Virginia, graduated from Eastern Mennonite University and Oregon State University, and wrote the foreword for the 25-year anniversary edition of *More-with-Less Cookbook*. Cathleen Hockman-Wert has served as editor for Mennonite Women USA since 1997 and founded *Timbrel*, a magazine by Mennonite women. An Oregon native, she graduated from Goshen College and earned a master's in journalism from the University of Oregon. Together they represent a practitioner-editor partnership -- Lind brings hands-in-the-soil food knowledge, Hockman-Wert brings editorial clarity and a convert's enthusiasm for local eating. ## Central Thesis Every food purchase is a vote for the world we want to live in. *Simply in Season* argues that eating locally and seasonally isn't a niche lifestyle choice -- it's a return to how food worked for most of human history, and it matters for environmental health, community economics, personal nutrition, and spiritual practice. The book makes this case not through polemic but through recipes, stories, and practical guidance organized around the four seasons plus an "All Seasons" section. Commissioned by the Mennonite Central Committee, it connects food choices to a web of concerns: how food production affects the land, the people who grow it, animal welfare, soil health, and the distance between farm and table. The average food item travels more than a thousand miles before reaching our plates. This book asks what happens when we close that gap. The argument builds across seasonal chapters, each pairing recipes with thematic essays. Spring explores environmental impact. Summer addresses health. Autumn takes up time and community rhythms. Winter examines economic factors. The final "All Seasons" chapter provides an overview of food production and food security. The recipes themselves -- over 300 from 450 contributors -- are the argument made edible. ## Why This Book Matters First published in 2005 and expanded in 2009, *Simply in Season* arrived during the early years of the local food movement. It predates the mainstreaming of farm-to-table dining and CSA subscriptions but anticipated their logic. Unlike many food-movement books that operate at the level of policy or philosophy, this one operates at the level of the kitchen counter. It gives you something to cook with what's actually available at your farmers' market in March versus August. The community cookbook format -- recipes sourced from hundreds of real home cooks -- grounds it in practice rather than theory. For anyone trying to eat more locally or seasonally, this is a reference book that doubles as a quiet argument for paying attention to where food comes from and what that means for the world around you. --- # Chapter Summaries ## Preface The preface frames the book's purpose: it's a community cookbook about good food that's fresh, nutritious, tasty, and in rhythm with the seasons. It acknowledges the complexity of food systems -- who grows our food, how soil is treated, how animals live and die, what production costs the land and its people -- and positions the book as a starting point rather than a final answer. The preface explains the structure: seasonal chapters designated by color, recipes organized by type within each season, thematic writings woven through the recipe pages, and invitations at the beginning and end of each chapter to live fully in your particular time and place. The expanded edition adds seventeen new recipes to the original three hundred. ## Fruit and Vegetable Guide A practical reference section covering dozens of fruits and vegetables, organized alphabetically from apples to winter squash plus an herbs section. For each item, the guide provides season of availability, description of varieties, selection tips, storage and handling instructions, preparation methods (steaming, boiling, roasting, microwaving), serving suggestions with page references to relevant recipes, nutritional highlights, and raw-to-cooked volume conversions. This section functions as a standalone reference for anyone learning to cook with seasonal produce -- it answers the practical question of "I just bought kohlrabi at the market, now what?" ## Spring Spring opens with imagery of snow turning to mud turning to humus, an invitation to connect with the land. The recipes feature asparagus, rhubarb, strawberries, spring greens, peas, leeks, mushrooms, and early herbs. The thematic writings explore the environmental impact of modern agriculture, including what sustainable agriculture means (biological balance, economic viability, and quality of life for producers and society). A maple sugaring vignette captures the season's feel -- drilling into a maple tree and watching the first drops of sap run. Recipe categories span breads and breakfast (Maple Walnut Scones, Rhubarb Muffins), soups (Spring Celebration Soup, Fresh Pea Soup, Chilled Strawberry Soup), salads (Dandelion Bacon Salad, Strawberry Spinach Salad), sides (Roasted Asparagus, Three Pea Stir-Fry), main dishes (Lemon Asparagus Pasta, Spring Quiche Trio, Indonesian Leek Pie), desserts (Rhubarb Sorrel Crisp, Strawberry Pie), and extras (Orange Mint Tea, Rhubarb Strawberry Jam). ## Summer The season of abundance. Recipes feature corn, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, green beans, eggplant, berries, melons, peaches, and fresh herbs at their peak. The thematic focus shifts to health -- the nutritional benefits of eating fresh, the connection between seasonal eating and well-being. Summer includes a canning section, acknowledging that preserving the season's bounty is part of the seasonal eating tradition. This is the book's longest chapter, reflecting how much produce is available in the growing months. ## Autumn As the growing season winds down, autumn recipes center on root vegetables, winter squash, pumpkins, apples, pears, grapes, cranberries, kale, and Brussels sprouts. The thematic writings address time and community -- the rhythms of harvest, the importance of slowing down, the social dimensions of food preparation. Autumn bridges the abundance of summer and the scarcity of winter, and the recipes reflect that transition with heartier soups, roasted vegetables, and baked goods that store well. ## Winter Winter recipes work with storage crops: potatoes, sweet potatoes, parsnips, rutabagas, turnips, cabbage, dried beans, and preserved foods. The thematic focus turns to economics -- the cost of food, who bears it, and what it means to support local food systems financially. The chapter confronts the tension between frugality and paying fair prices for sustainably grown food. Root vegetables and warm soups dominate the recipe list. ## All Seasons The final recipe chapter covers foods and preparations that work year-round -- breads, staple grain dishes, bean-based main courses, pantry desserts, and homemade basics like granola and sauces. The thematic writings provide an overview of food production and food security, bringing the book full circle. This chapter addresses the bigger picture: how food systems work, what food security means globally, and how individual choices connect to systemic outcomes. --- # Key Themes and Highlights ## Seasonal Rhythm as Organizing Principle The book's structure isn't arbitrary. Organizing recipes by season rather than by dish type (appetizers, mains, desserts) reframes how you think about cooking. Instead of deciding what you want to eat and then sourcing ingredients, you start with what's available and work from there. This is a fundamental shift in kitchen logic -- from consumer-driven to season-driven. ## Food Miles and Local Systems The book returns repeatedly to the fact that the average food item travels more than a thousand miles before reaching the table. This isn't presented as a guilt trip but as a practical observation with practical consequences: food that travels less is fresher, more nutritious, and supports local economies. The book positions local eating as accessible rather than elite -- the recipes use simple, affordable ingredients. ## Community as Ingredient With 450 recipe contributors and 70+ volunteer testers, the book itself is a community project. The recipes come from real kitchens, not a test kitchen. Contributors' names and locations appear with each recipe. Stories, reflections, and farming vignettes are woven between recipes. The book treats food as inherently social -- something produced, prepared, and consumed in relationship with other people. ## Sustainability Beyond Buzzword The book's definition of sustainable agriculture is specific: it must be biologically sound (caring for soil, water, air, wildlife), economically viable (if it doesn't pay, it won't last), and socially just (quality of life for producers and consumers). This three-part definition predates much of the current sustainability discourse and remains more grounded than most corporate sustainability frameworks. ## Spirituality and Food Rooted in the Mennonite tradition, the book treats food as a spiritual practice without being preachy about it. Scripture references appear naturally alongside practical cooking advice. Mary Beth Lind's statement that her garden and kitchen are where she's most aware of a spiritual presence, and where she lives out her beliefs, captures the book's approach: food as a site where values become tangible actions. --- # Analytical Reading ## Main Arguments 1. Eating seasonally and locally is a return to historical norms, not a fad or luxury. 2. Every food purchase is a vote for how food should be produced and what kind of world we want. 3. The distance between people and their food sources -- geographic, social, and spiritual -- is a problem worth addressing. 4. Seasonal eating is accessible to ordinary home cooks working with ordinary budgets. 5. Food connects environmental health, community economics, personal nutrition, and spiritual practice into a single web. 6. Sustainable agriculture requires biological, economic, and social viability simultaneously. 7. Cooking with the seasons requires a shift in kitchen logic: start with what's available, not what you want. 8. Preserving food (canning, drying, root cellaring) is part of seasonal eating, not separate from it. 9. Community knowledge -- recipes shared across hundreds of kitchens -- is a valid and valuable form of food expertise. ## Methodology This is a community cookbook with embedded food-systems education, not an academic text or a manifesto. The persuasive method is accumulation: hundreds of recipes organized by season, each one a small demonstration that seasonal cooking works. The thematic writings between recipes provide context -- environmental, health, economic, and social -- but the recipes carry the argument. The fruit and vegetable guide provides practical reference material. The community sourcing model (450 contributors, volunteer testers, advisory group) gives the book credibility through collective experience rather than individual authority. ## Strengths The book's greatest strength is its practicality. It doesn't just argue for seasonal eating -- it equips you to do it. The fruit and vegetable guide alone is worth the price, answering questions like how to store beets, when asparagus is in season, and what to do with celeriac. The seasonal organization makes it genuinely useful as a reference: you can open to the current season's chapter and cook from what's at the market. The community-sourced recipes have been tested in real home kitchens, which means they work without specialized equipment or hard-to-find ingredients. The integration of food-systems thinking with practical cooking advice is well-calibrated -- informative without being didactic. ## Limitations The book's Mennonite Christian framing, while handled with a light touch, may not resonate with all readers. The recipes skew toward North American comfort food and may feel limited for cooks seeking diverse culinary traditions, though the subtitle "World Community Cookbook" suggests broader aspirations. The seasonal designations assume a temperate North American climate -- readers in the American South, Pacific Northwest, or other regions will need to adapt the seasonal framework to their local growing conditions. Some food-systems arguments would benefit from updated data, given that the expanded edition dates to 2009. The book also doesn't address urban food deserts or the structural barriers that make local eating difficult for low-income communities, an omission that limits its analysis of food access. --- # Personal Reflection ## Key Takeaways The most practical insight is the seasonal reorganization of kitchen logic. Most cookbooks train you to pick a recipe and buy ingredients. This book trains you to look at what's available -- at the market, in the garden, in the root cellar -- and then find a recipe. That inversion changes your relationship with food from consumer to participant. The fruit and vegetable guide is the section I'll return to most. Knowing how to select, store, and prepare seasonal produce is foundational knowledge that applies regardless of which specific recipes you cook. The book's quiet insistence that food choices are ethical choices -- without moralizing about it -- is effective. The approach is invitational rather than judgmental: here are stories from people who find joy in eating with the seasons, here are recipes that make it practical, here's some context for why it matters. That tone makes the argument more persuasive than a polemic would. ## Questions Raised - How would a truly updated edition account for the climate shifts that have altered growing seasons since 2009? - The book assumes access to farmers' markets and garden space. What does seasonal eating look like in food deserts or dense urban environments? - How do the economics of local food look now compared to 2005/2009? Has the price gap between local and conventional narrowed or widened? - The community cookbook model depends on a tight-knit community (Mennonite churches, MCC networks) for sourcing recipes. Could this model work in more diffuse communities? - How does the seasonal eating framework adapt to regions with very different growing seasons -- desert Southwest, tropical climates, far northern latitudes? ## Connections to Other Works - [[More-with-Less Cookbook]] by Doris Janzen Longacre -- The direct predecessor in the MCC cookbook tradition, focused on eating simply so others may simply eat. *Simply in Season* extends this ethic into seasonal and local dimensions. - [[Animal, Vegetable, Miracle]] by Barbara Kingsolver -- Kingsolver's year-long experiment in local eating is the narrative version of what *Simply in Season* provides as a reference book. Both make the case that seasonal eating reconnects us to place. - [[The Omnivore's Dilemma]] by Michael Pollan -- Pollan's analysis of food systems provides the intellectual framework that *Simply in Season* makes practical and kitchen-ready. - [[Nourishing Traditions]] by Sally Fallon -- Both books emphasize traditional food preparation methods (fermentation, preservation) and whole foods, though from different ideological starting points. - [[Plenty]] by Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon -- The 100-mile diet experiment complements *Simply in Season*'s approach to local eating, with more narrative and less recipe focus. --- # Reading Notes - The organizing principle -- season first, dish type second -- is the book's most important structural choice. It changes how you approach the kitchen. - The preface's framing of food purchases as votes is simple and sticky. It makes abstract food-systems arguments personal and actionable. - The fruit and vegetable guide is genuinely excellent reference material. The combination of selection tips, storage instructions, preparation methods, and nutritional data in a compact format is hard to find elsewhere. - The maple sugaring vignette at the start of Spring captures the book's sensibility: attentive, rooted in place, finding meaning in the physical work of food. - The definition of sustainable agriculture (biologically sound, economically viable, socially just) is cleaner and more complete than most definitions I've encountered. - The community sourcing model (450 contributors, 1600 submitted recipes, 300+ published, volunteer testing) gives the recipes a different kind of credibility than a single-author cookbook. These are recipes that work in ordinary kitchens. - The thematic progression across seasons (environment in Spring, health in Summer, time/community in Autumn, economics in Winter, food security in All Seasons) creates a coherent argument without forcing it. - Cathleen Hockman-Wert's personal note about chanting "cheaper is not always better" with her husband captures the real tension in local eating -- frugality versus fair pricing -- more honestly than most food writing. - The book is practical without being preachy. It acknowledges that none of us has "arrived" and that each person will decide what choices fit their circumstances. That humility makes the invitation more credible. - The herb guide at the end of the fruit and vegetable section is a useful standalone reference for anyone learning to cook with fresh herbs. - The canning section in Summer acknowledges that seasonal eating includes preservation -- bridging summer abundance with winter scarcity is part of the cycle, not an afterthought.