There is nothing more vital to the very existence of human beings than food. Cooking, gathering, and eating have been essential to what makes us human since our ancestors began walking this planet. From the lavish feasts offered to royals, to a modest meal served to families gathered around a table to celebrate a holiday, food has always been central to human culture. Food has been used for celebration, tradition, healing, comforting, and pleasure for thousands of years. Cooking and eating connect each and every one of us, yet in our modern society, we have made what should be simple, pleasurable, and delicious a complicated matter ridden with guilt. Food is no longer about nourishment and comfort; rather, it’s a regimented routine meant to induce shame in those who can’t stick to a diet or plan. That’s where intuitive eating comes into play – an approach to becoming healthy and happy that doesn’t involve restriction or dieting. In her new book Kindred Table, Emily Weeks, RDN, LD allows you to break free from the shackles of modern dieting by using the intuitive approach designed specifically with families in mind. Families today are overstressed and overworked, resulting in a reliance on quick processed foods and drive-through meals. Family meals are happening less frequently, and the use of fad diets to lose weight and get healthy is increasing, especially among kids and teenagers. An astonishing number of diets fail, leaving us feeling defeated and frustrated. But what if we could live a life free from dieting, restriction, and the suffering that goes along with it? Kindred Table discusses why restriction doesn’t work and why striving for a certain weight does more harm than good. Instead, it explains how to introduce your family to intuitive eating and, most importantly, how to enjoy healthy and happy family meals. Kindred Table includes: Comprehensive guidance especially tailored for families, with tips for how introducing the intuitive approach to young children and teens A special section on gentle nutrition—how to eat healthier as a family without feeling deprived or restricted Tips for coming together for family meals, trying new foods, and reducing pickiness without a fight Advice for how to become healthier as a family without focusing on weight or body size Information about dealing with junk food and emotional eating as children and adults Nutritionally balanced recipes for breakfasts, lunches, dinners, sides, desserts, and snacks With Emily by your side, you and your family will be able to walk away from dieting and rediscover the simple pleasures of eating.

An herbalist and free woman of color, Kindred Twain and Lelaheo/Cassian Harkness, an Oneida Indian, had been inseparable since childhood, so it was no surprise to anyone when their childhood bond blossomed into love as they grew into adulthood. Neither suspected when they agreed to wait to wed until Lelaheo had completed his medical studies in Europe that they were poised on the eve of the American Revolution, or that a young British miss named Adeline would threaten to tear them apart forever.