Cooking For Cancer

Karen Babine, All the Wild Hungers

Today I want to talk about Karen Babine’s All the Wild Hungers: A Season of Cooking and Cancer. Babine’s mother was diagnosed with a rare and deadly form of soft tissue cancer (embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma), and Babine copes with her anxiety by cooking. The book is accessible to everyone who is caring for a loved one who has cancer because we still have to eat to keep us healthy enough to care for them.

In 64 crafted micro-essays, Babine talks about her mother’s cancer treatments and about learning to cook with cast iron as she tries to make something that her mother can tolerate. Her thoughts on the devastating toll that cancer is taking are woven into reflections on the sustenance of nutritious food.

The ingredients that make up the book are well balanced. There is the cancer and cooking, of course, along with several recipes, but also Babine’s lyrical writing, a discussion of metaphors, humor, touching portrayals of her family, the historical view of the value of women to society, the color blue, ethical eating, the moral differences between agriculture and agribusiness, and insights into the culture of northern Minnesota. Having grown up in Wisconsin, I was intrigued that the stoic, non-emotive culture of Scandinavian Americans sounded much like the German American one I grew up in.

Like many books that deal with serious illnesses like cancer, this one is not filled with the medical details (although I wish they all would), and the main focus is not on the person fighting off death, but on Babine’s caregiving struggles to assist her mother. It feels like Babine is sharing with us as friends.

Now and then, Babine pauses in her narrative to face the darkness looming before her and wonder how long she can endure living with the uncertainty. She says metaphors can cover some of the unsettledness we feel when we don’t have enough facts but, ultimately, we have to let go of trying to control the situation and accept the unpredictability of life. The depth of her reflections is refreshing.

When we’re under stress like this, it’s helpful to do something physical. Babine finds release, and regains a measure of balance, by cooking and by shopping for additional antique cast iron pots and pans. She also gathers with her network of family and friends for support and to encourage one another.

Although we may not be able to stop the outcome of cancer, we can slow it down, and we can make the journey a little less painful. We can listen to the stillness between our fears and hopes, and do everything we can to take care of those who need assistance. We can feed the hungry and comfort those who are suffering.

Thanksgiving in the United States is this week. Find out who is hungry in your community and do something to help.

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Because

Why do I share posts with you about people who are dealing with cancer? Because I want to express my gratitude to the people who take time to write honestly about their cancers. Because I find inspiration in the ways they discover for living with cancer. Because I like to learn about the different kinds of cancer, and the more medical details they share, the better. Call me a science-nerd. And because I want to pay homage to the wonder of every person who faces cancer and endures its gauntlet of treatments and the emotional tsunami that tosses them around. Their courage strengthens me.