About Our Food

Food is the heart of
The Ceres Community Project’s work.

The link between diet and health is now undeniable, and many studies have shown that how cancer patients eat during treatment can both reduce side effects and increase treatment effectiveness. At least as important is the power of food to help us feel nourished and cared for.

In The Ceres Community Project kitchen, we work hard to prepare food that is beautiful, delicious and nutrient-dense.

The meals we provide are designed around the latest understanding of how diet supports our health. We cook with primarily organic ingredients, locally grown as much as possible. All of our poultry, eggs, dairy, grains, beans, soy products and at least 90 percent of our produce is organically grown.

The food we provide is designed to be nutrient-dense and to support our clients’ healing. We work closely with a number of nutritionists to insure that the food we prepare reflects the most current information about diet and health.

Our expert advisors include:

Rebecca Katz, Masters in Clinical Nutrition, chef at the Commonweal Cancer Center in Bolinas, CA, and author of One Bite at a Time: Nourishing Recipes for Cancer Survivors and Their Friends.

Nan Kathryn Fuchs, PhD, is an authority on nutrition and the editor and writer of Women’s Health Letter, the leading health advisory on nutritional healing for women. She is the author of The Nutrition Detective: A Woman’s Guide to Treating your Health Problems Through the Foods You Eat, Overcoming the Legacy of Overeating, and 456 Most Powerful Healing Secrets. She is currently Program Director for Amitabha Medical Clinic & Healing Center in Sebastopol, CA.

Lily Mazzarella, M.S., clinical herbalist at Farmacopia in Santa Rosa, CA.

We include dark leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, dark orange vegetables, sea vegetables such as arame and kombu, and mushrooms such as shiitake, maitake and trumpet royale in some form each week.

These foods are extremely nutrient dense and have proven supportive benefits for those who are ill, particularly with cancer. We also cook with a wide variety of organic beans and grains, including quinoa, millet, wild rice and brown rice. We strive to choose foods that are alkalinizing for the body.

Here’s what you won’t find in any of your food: white flour products, white or refined sugar, or chemical additives.

Our desserts are made with whole grains and whole sweeteners such as organic raw honey, organic maple syrup or organic agave.

We are able to accommodate a fairly wide range of dietary restrictions

including no poultry, no fish, no wheat or gluten, no dairy, no added sweeteners and no nightshades. We are also generally able to omit any vegetables which you either dislike or which you find difficult to digest.

Ceres clients receive three or four complete dinners each week, a nourishing soup, a main dish salad and a healthy dessert.

The Ceres Community Project also prepares a number of specialty foods that include herbs which have been shown to offer support for those who are ill. These foods include a potassium rich immune broth and our popular Vitality Truffles, a raw foods “truffle” that includes herbs that support the body’s immune system and ability to adapt to stress. We also prepare our own sauerkrauts and encourage clients to include a small amount of these fermented food in their daily diet as one of the most effective ways of supporting digestive health.

Sample Menus

Following are two examples
of the food we prepare weekly.

Sample Menu 1

Chicken or Tofu
with Sundried Tomato Pesto,
Romanesque Broccoli Tossed with Leeks & Dill

Simple Baked Fish
with Bok Choy in Orange Sauce
& Roasted Yam Wedges

Wild Rice Pilaf
with Mushrooms & Dried Cranberries
with Baked Butternut & Apples

Kale Spanakopita
with Braised Carrots & Fennel

Creamy Lentil & Beet Soup
with Mild Indian Spices

Fingerling Potato Salad
with Artichokes, Capers & Olives

Pumpkin Mousse (Non dairy)

Sample Menu 2

Mustard Chicken
with Broccolini, Mushroom & Arame Sauté

Fresh Wild Snapper
with Herb Pesto & Roasted Parsnips
in Pomegranate Molasses

Roasted Winter Squash Wedges
with Brown Rice & Garbanzo Bean Pilaf

Walnut & Herb Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
on a Bed of Local Chard

Miso Soup with Soba Noodles, Carrots & Ginger

Wild Rice Salad with Beets, Fennel & an Orange Dressing

Apple Date Crisp with Oat Topping