Pennsylvania to host SIS retreat

Ever want to get away for a weekend and live "Simply in Season"? You're invited!

An April 21-23 retreat in Akron, Pa., invites participants to celebrate spring as they delve into the themes of the new Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) cookbook, "Simply in Season."

Participants in the spring retreat -- which will be led by cookbook co-author, nutritionist and gardener Mary Beth Lind -- will reflect on how food can nourish the spirit as well as the body. The event will revolve around spring recipes, discussions and activities inspired by "Simply in Season."

It is titled, "A Pregnant Earth."

"Don't you ever feel like the earth is pregnant?" says Lind, speaking from her West Virginia home in early March. "Spring to me always feels like that. I look out my window now and there's snow on the ground and it's melted around the trees. It's that sense there's life coming out.... There's a sense that something is alive there that's going to burst forth."

The retreat lasts from Friday night until Sunday afternoon. Participants will visit a farm, learn practical tips for in-season food preparation and hear from nutritionists and farmers. They will explore what foods truly are in season.

"Now, you can go to a supermarket and find everything. If it's in season anywhere in the world, it's in season in the supermarket," Lind said. "We don't even realize what is in season in our communities."

Most of all, though, Lind hopes the weekend provides opportunities, ideas and inspiration to take the themes of the book and explore how people can best fit them into their own lives.

"There's all different ways of fleshing this out," Lind said. "I really hope there's a lot of discussion and dialogue."

The retreat will be at the MCC Welcoming Place in Akron, Pa. The cost of $185 includes two nights of lodging, six meals, local transportation, an information packet and a personal "Simply in Season" journal. To register, call (717) 859-1152, ext. 282, or download a registration form. "Simply in Season" cookbooks are available at the MCC Online Store.

-- From a Mennonite Central Committee news release by Marla Pierson Lester