The Spirit of Rice: One Grain, Ten Thousand Grains

A companion book to The Spirit of Rice movie documentary

Several years ago, a small group of teachers, cooks, and farmers came together to make a film documentary on the rice cycle. Most of the footage was taken at South River Farm in Conway, Massachusetts, where Christian Elwell and his wife Gaella have a miso company and have been growing awned rice for over forty years. During this time, Christian has mastered the seven stages of rice growth, from seed to harvest. The first stage is the seed. Seed is selected during the harvest of the previous fall, from plants grown in the previous season.

This book is a companion to the film and includes many close-up photographs and vital information about the rice cycle not in the documentary. It contains simple, practical information on how to get started growing rice in your own backyard or window box. Rice is a key to health and happiness and embodies the nurturing, overflowing, compassionate spirit of life itself.

Alex Jack is president of Planetary Health and founder of the Amberwaves network to safeguard rice and other grains from genetic engineering, climate change, and other threats. Mark Leonas is a retired schoolteacher and writer. The preface is by Sachi Kato, a macrobiotic teacher, counselor, and chef.