Food for Life

From 1999 to 2018, thinkers, practitioners, dreamers, and eaters gathered at Sequatchie Valley Institute for the annual Food for Life event near Chattanooga, TN…

Attendees took part in workshops covering numerous topics, including food preservation, cooking methods, dietary choices & nutrition, native forest foods & medicines, wood stove & cast iron cooking, butchering, and fermented foods including kefir, kombucha, mead, sauerkraut, sourdough, cheese, and more.

We explored the political, social, and ecological implications of food and agriculture.

Children took part in the immersive outdoor children’s program, which included planting a Three Sisters Garden, hiking on beautiful trails, outdoor games, and learning about good food, plants, critters, and the forest. One of the most well-loved activities was the “Kid’s Trade Blanket.” This hearkened back to the North American fur trade and it assisted young ones in their exploration of the concept of value.

Workshop instructors from a wide background of expertise and experience, cooks, work traders, and sponsors all made our most well-known event quite spectacular!

For our 20th year celebration, we welcomed back Sandor Katz as our keynote speaker and instructor. He is the award-winning author of such titles as “The Art of Fermentation” and “Wild Fermentation,” books which comprehensively and thoughtfully covers numerous forms of food preservation.

The Food for Life event is a community favorite, and we feel beyond blessed to have hosted it for so long.