Also in Food & Health

Whole Foods Companion

A Guide for Adventurous Cooks, Curious Shoppers, and Lovers of Natural Foods

by Dianne Onstad

Consumer Comments

A letter to Diane

We're very happy to be able to get in touch with you, because you have been a heroic figure at our house for the past six or seven years. We bought a copy of your Whole Foods Companion shortly after it first came out, and we have found it to be an absolutely brilliant and unique work. The health and nutrition information is just what we always need to know, and the history and lore are really indispensable. We also very much appreciate your careful and accurate attention to the etymologies of the Latin names of the plants. Nobody else does anything like all of this, as far as we know, and we think your book really transcends the usual categories of books about cooking, food, etc. To us, it's one of those books you'd grab on your way out if the house were on fire! We're recently and early retired, and we spend a lot of time growing and preparing plant foods, and we have completely worn your book out—it's virtually loose-leaf—so we'll be getting a new copy before long. We've recommended it to our friends, and we know of at least one large American newspaper (the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette) that has ordered it for their office library (we recommended it to a friend of ours who works there). We don't want to embarrass you with all this praise, but this has been building up for years! Every time we use your book, we say we wish we could get in touch with you and thank your for it. So thanks, big time!

Our very best wishes,
Joan & Gary