“Eating Clean: Sustainable Good Health for You and the Environment,” With Terry Walters, at Canton Public Library

On Sunday, December 4 at 2:30 PM, Canton Public Library hosts author Terry Walters in a program titled “Eating CLEAN: Sustainable Good Health for You and the Environment,” a presentation, tasting, and Clean Food  book signing.  The program is  part of the series on “Sustainable Living and TransitionTowns,” sponsored by a grant from Newman’s Own Foundation. The series includes films, speakers, and programs on sustainable living skills.

            Terry Walters wears many hats. She’s the author of two cookbooks, Clean Food and Clean Start (the latter of which was just nominated for a James Beard Foundation Award). She also offers group and private cooking classes, runs a health counseling business, and travels all over the country speaking out to change the way Americans think about food. In her appearances, she talks about what’s gone wrong with the average American diet and explains how to get started cleaning up your own eating habits.

            Terry Walters' first book, Clean Food, caused a sensation and fueled a nationwide movement about nourishment and clean food that's been embraced all the way to the White House. Her second book, Clean Start, takes Terry's philosophy of eating minimally processed foods for maximum nutrition even further, making it easier for everyone — from the kitchen novice to the seasoned chef — to eat clean.

Terry is about eating clean and living well. She believes in nourishing ourselves “with nutrient-rich foods in a rainbow of colors and a full spectrum of tastes. She is about taking time to shop for, prepare, share and enjoy your meals and mealtime. She is about eating foods from living plants, not processing plants.  Most importantly, Terry is about making healthy choices that nourish our bodies, our families, our communities and our environment. One choice at a time, with intention and compassion for ourselves and our planet, we can eat clean and live well.”

            As part of her presentation, Terry Walters will be providing tastings of her recipes.  She promises that “everyone in attendance will walk away inspired and empowered to heal themselves and their environment in a way that is quick, easy and delicious! This program is appropriate for all – from those just starting to think about their food and their health for the first time, to those who have long been down the path of eating clean.”

Canton Public Library’s series on “Sustainable Living and Transition Towns” seeks to generate community discussion about the direction we take in our personal and public lives.  For a while now we’ve lived with the terms “sustainable living,” “locavores,” and “peak oil,” and “carbon footprint” as we make both daily decisions and long-range policy decisions.  Should we walk, bike, or drive the car?  Should we use the dryer or line dry our clothes?  Should we support farmers’ markets or the local big box grocery store?  Add to that mix of terminology the phrase “transition town,” and you’ll discover an avenue of hope.

            What is a “transition town?”  A town which has recognized that we are on an unsustainable trajectory in our energy use, our economy, and our treatment of the planet.  The international Transition Towns movement seeks to address issues of sustainability by “engaging local communities in vibrant, grassroots community initiatives that increase local self-reliance and resilience.”

            The “transition towns” movement believes that the challenges we face are not insurmountable, but our approach to meeting the challenges is key:  “If we wait for the governments, it will be too little, too late; if we act as individuals, it will be too little; but if we act as communities, it might just be enough, just in time.”

            The program “Eating CLEAN: Sustainable Good Health for You and the Environment” is free, but REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED.  Canton Public Library is at 40 Dyer Avenue, Canton.  For information:  (860) 693-5800 or

www.cantonpubliclibrary.org