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“In Nourishment a wise observer of the land and the animals becomes transformed to learn the meaning of life. Fred Provenza’s reflections on his long, fruitful career in behavior-based management of landscapes include his joy in observing the natural world around him.”―Temple Grandin, author of Animals in Translation



“An absolutely fascinating topic, engagingly written. Fred Provenza will wholly up-end everything you think you know about what you are supposed to eat and why. Nourishment should be the first book read by every student of nutrition.”―Nicolette Hahn Niman, author of Defending Beef



“Once again, Fred Provenza shows he is one of the freshest and most insightful thinkers about the role of herbivores (and omnivorous humans!) in our food and land management systems. His clear evolutionary thinking is matched by his keen powers of observation of ecological interactions. This book is a landmark contribution.”―Gary Paul Nabhan, author of Mesquite and Food from the Radical Center



“Fred Provenza’s Nourishment is a synergy of the essence of his lifetime of research coupled with commonsense nutritional advice to aid both animals and humans. All readers will benefit from the knowledge revealed in this book. I have long thought Dr. Provenza’s work should comprise a required course in veterinary and medical schools, and Nourishment confirms that opinion.”―Richard J. Holliday, DVM, holistic veterinarian; coauthor of A Holistic Vet’s Prescription for a Healthy Herd



“In Nourishment Fred Provenza offers a rich explanation of how animals follow instinctual wisdom of nutritional biochemistry when nested in their proper ecological niche. Drawing from episodes of his years of research and the cycles of life, Dr. Provenza illuminates the fascinating mechanisms by which animals’ innate knowledge of healthy eating is passed on to their offspring and how we humans can learn from the simplicity of animals in our midst. This engaging book provides proof that animals are not mindless eaters―nor should humans be.”―Hubert Karreman, VMD, author of Treating Dairy Cows Naturally



“Fred Provenza is a hero of mine. For more than thirty years, he has been a leader in applying scientific knowledge to social good. His deep understanding of how animals behave on the land―why they eat what they eat, how they stay healthy, and how they teach their young―has helped generations of ranchers, farmers, wildlife managers, and university students understand and strengthen their relationships with animals in sustainable ways. We are animals, too, and in this magnificent book, the culmination of a lifetime of learning, Fred weaves together philosophy, nutritional science, memoir, and his humble appreciation for the natural world into an inspiring meditation on our moment on Earth.”―Courtney White, author of Grass, Soil, Hope and Two Percent Solutions for the Planet

Reflections on feeding body and spirit in a world of change

Animal scientists have long considered domestic livestock to be too dumb to know how to eat right, but the lifetime research of animal behaviorist Fred Provenza and his colleagues has debunked this myth. Their work shows that when given a choice of natural foods, livestock have an astoundingly refined palate, nibbling through the day on as many as fifty kinds of grasses, forbs, and shrubs to meet their nutritional needs with remarkable precision.

In Nourishment Provenza presents his thesis of the wisdom body, a wisdom that links flavor-feedback relationships at a cellular level with biochemically rich foods to meet the body’s nutritional and medicinal needs. Provenza explores the fascinating complexity of these relationships as he raises and answers thought-provoking questions about what we can learn from animals about nutritional wisdom.

What kinds of memories form the basis for how herbivores, and humans, recognize foods? Can a body develop nutritional and medicinal memories in utero and early in life? Do humans still possess the wisdom to select nourishing diets? Or, has that ability been hijacked by nutritional “authorities”? Consumers eager for a “quick fix” have empowered the multibillion-dollar-a-year supplement industry, but is taking supplements and enriching and fortifying foods helping us, or is it hurting us?

On a broader scale Provenza explores the relationships among facets of complex, poorly understood, ever-changing ecological, social, and economic systems in light of an unpredictable future. To what degree do we lose contact with life-sustaining energies when the foods we eat come from anywhere but where we live? To what degree do we lose the mythological relationship that links us physically and spiritually with Mother Earth who nurtures our lives?

Provenza’s paradigm-changing exploration of these questions has implications that could vastly improve our health through a simple change in the way we view our relationships with the plants and animals we eat. Our health could be improved by eating biochemically rich foods and by creating cultures that know how to combine foods into meals that nourish and satiate. Provenza contends the voices of “authority” disconnect most people from a personal search to discover the inner wisdom that can nourish body and spirit. That journey means embracing wonder and uncertainty and avoiding illusions of stability and control as we dine on a planet in a universe bent on consuming itself.