Foodwise: Understanding What We Eat and How It Affects Us: The Story of Human Nutrition

Wendy Cook’s fascination with nutrition began during her wartime childhood. Amid the deprivation and food-rationing of that era, her mother’s organic garden and its rich abundance made a profound impression. In her twenties, while married to Peter Cook, Wendy discovered the artistic and magical effects that food could have in creating a convivial atmosphere. During that time, she cooked for many well-known people, including John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Dudley Moore, and Peter Ustinov. It was only later when her daughter became ill, however, that Wendy came to study and understand deeper aspects of nutrition―in particular the effects of various foods on human health and consciousness.

In Foodwise, Wendy Cook presents a remarkable cornucopia of challenging ideas, advice, and commentary, informed by the seminal work of the scientist Rudolf Steiner. She begins the volume with biographical glimpses relating to her own experience with food and how it has influenced her life. She continues with an extraordinary perspective on the journey of human evolution, relating it to changes in consciousness and the consumption of various foods. She then considers the importance of agricultural methods, the nature of the human being, the significance of grasses and grains, the mystery of human digestion, and the issue of vegetarianism.

In the next section Cook analyzes the “building blocks” of nutrition, looking in detail at the nutritional and non-nutritional qualities of many foods, including carbohydrates, minerals, fats and oils, milk and dairy products, herbs and spices, salt and sweeteners, stimulants, legumes, nightshades, bread, water, and dietary supplements. She ends with practical tips on cooking, planning menus, children’s food, sharing meals, and mouth-watering recipes.

Foodwise presents a treasure of wisdom and experience for those who are concerned about the substance of the food they eat or wish to discover more about the physical, soul, and spiritual aspects of nutrition.

Wendy E. Cook is a writer and speaker on nutritional issues. The first wife of satirist Peter Cook, she gained a reputation as a hostess in the 1960s and 1970s. Born in 1940, she studied art at Cambridge where she met Peter Cook. Later they lived in London and New York during which time Wendy developed cooking and entertaining as her creative motif. When their daughter Daisy developed asthma and conventional medicine had little effect, Wendy began a journey of discovery of complementary treatments and alternative ideas. She studied macrobiotics as well as Rudolf Steiner's approach to nutrition and agriculture (biodynamics). Having discovered how life-changing nutrition can be, she devoted herself to cooking and teaching in clinics, communities and schools. More recently she was resident at Schumacher College while simultaneously studying for a degree in Waldorf Education at Plymouth University. In addition to Foodwise and The Biodynamic Food and Cookbook (both from Clairview), Wendy is the author of So Farewell Then: The Biography of Peter Cook (Harper).