A counterculture cookbook for these strange times. Mixing memoir and loose recipes, this book intends to inspire a “free” approach to cooking and eating. A literally down-to-earth approach – as in: food grown, purchased, cooked, and consumed with an awareness of the Earth. A reflection on an idealistic, optimistic, possibility-fueled young adulthood spent around tables of co-op houses and would-be communes. An appreciation for groovy, light-hearted, no-rules cuisine. Hippies of the past dreamt of a better world from their kitchens, and today we can do the same as we cook and eat in more informed, conscious, intentional ways. This book is a love letter to Eugene, Oregon – a small city where this free spirited food and mindset have long been commonplace – and takes a close look at the formative food memories that make us hunger for another taste. Free Food is a not-done-dreaming exploration of alternative ways of living in the now.