Puma Saunders, holistic chef, yoga teacher, and folk furniture artist, grew up eating Virginia biscuits and sausage gravy for breakfast and BBQ pork chops for supper. Family meals were gleaned from the garden, local farms, and dumpsters. He learned that nourishment is a privilege and cooking an act of reverence, an opportunity to express emotion where words sometimes fall short. From his vegetarian and vegan years at Warren Wilson College, he went on to cater permaculture conferences and other alternative gatherings, where he dealt with every food allergy imaginable. He’s currently excited about raw and fermented foods, baking bread, and spending time with his sixteen chickens.