Tovar Cerulli

Read Tovar Cerulli Storyline:

A vegan turned hunter reignites the connection between humans and our food sources and continues the dialogue begun by Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver.As a boy, Tovar Cerulli spent his summers fishing for trout and hunting bullfrogs. While still in high school, he began to experiment with vegetarianism. By the age of twenty he was a vegan. A decade later, in the face of declining health, he returned to omnivory and within a few years found himself headed into the woods, rifle in hand.In this deeply personal narrative, Cerulli explores our nutritional connections with the larger-than-human world. From a fateful encounter with a brook trout to a rekindled relationship with the only hunter in his family, he traces the evolution of his dietary philosophy. Contemplating vegetable gardens, farm fields, and deer woods with intellectual and emotional candor, he stalks both food and meaning.Cerulli’s tale brings nuance to conversations often dominated by black-and-white thinking. He sets contemporary debates in context by looking back over centuries of history, delving into our changing natural and cultural landscapes, and examining the shifting meanings of vegetarianism and hunting. In place of moral certainties, he offers questions.Can hunters and vegetarians be motivated by similar values and instincts? In this time of intensifying concern over ecological degradation and animal welfare, how do we make peace with the fact that, even in growing organic vegetables, life is sustained by death?At once compassionate and probing, The Mindful Carnivore invites us to reconsider what it means to eat.ReviewPublishers Weekly"A touching and thought-provoking exploration of not only what we eat but how we eat it."Kirkus Reviews"Entertaining and erudite. Cerulli’s refreshingly evenhanded tone allows readers to judge the author’s argument on the merits of his literary and personal evidence." Novella Carpenter, author of *Farm City"Both a personal tale of how one man comes to terms with the meat on his plate and a historical look at humanity’s connection to animals, The Mindful Carnivore* delivers new insight in the too often simplistic vegetarian-versus-carnivore argument."Hank Shaw, author of *Hunt, Gather, Cook*"Cerulli offers penetrating insights into not only where our food comes from, but what our daily dietary choices say about who we are as human beings."Nicolette Hahn Niman, author of *Righteous Porkchop"Elegantly written, thoughtful, intensely personal yet universal, Tovar Cerulli’s The Mindful Carnivore* is destined to become a classic."Georgia Pellegrini, author of Girl Hunter and *Food Heroes*"Cerulli navigates our role in the cycle of life in a way that is spiritual, intuitive, and profoundly real.”Betty Fussell, author of The Story of Corn and *Raising Steaks*"Bull’s-eye! Cerulli cuts through forests of argument with a thoughtful and thrilling narrative. We experience his growing awareness of what it means to be fully involved in the web of nature. With him we can wonder at its complex mystery and share in ‘mindful eating’ as a sacred act."Langdon Cook, author of *Fat of the Land"The Mindful Carnivore* lays bare the complicated relationship we have with the food we eat, exposing the many myths and prejudices that pile up on our plates. Full of compassion, curiosity, and a nourishing eloquence.”Jan E. Dizard, author of Mortal Stakes and *Going Wild"A remarkably candid, nuanced, and engaging meditation on what it means to be human. The Mindful Carnivore* is a bracing read." About the AuthorTovar Cerulli has worked as a logger, carpenter, and freelance writer. In 2009, he was awarded a graduate school fellowship by the University of Massachusetts, where his research has focused on food, hunting, and human relationships with the natural world. He lives in Vermont with his wife Catherine, their Labrador retriever, and an eclectic mix of cookbooks.