The message of More-with-Less is just as — if not more — relevant to our time of global health crises for people and planet as it was 50 years ago. Doris Janzen Longacre wrote the More-with-Less Cookbook in response to the global food crisis of the 1970s. In partnership with Mennonite Central Committee, she called for a food revolution by creating a collection of “Recipes and Suggestions from Mennonites on How to Eat Better and Consume Less of the World’s Limited Food Resources” as the original subtitle reads.

The 50th anniversary edition sub­title, “Timeless Recipes and Inspiration for Simple, Joyful Eating,” feels nostalgic (and more covert) in calling us to responsible eating. 

I hear in our culture today nostalgia for the “good ol’ days” when life was simpler. Nostalgia can be a way of coping in a fast-paced, stressful world. “Grandma” hobbies and analog activities are trending. The newly released Dietary Guidelines for Americans feel nostalgic, reverting to a food-pyramid graphic. Its simplified messaging to “eat real food” aligns with the recipes of More-with-Less. While nostalgia might keep us longing for the past, it can also be future-orienting by prompting reflection, inspiring creativity to improve well-being. 

The revised edition of More-with-Less feels nostalgic in the latter way. It invites us to recommit to a food revolution, to change our diets. In a world that offers more options than it did 50 years ago, can we answer the call to choose less? Do we trust that consuming less will lead to more joy? Will we step more fully into simpler living so that others can simply live? What will it take to slow down, be mindful and believe that our meal choices matter? More-with-Less asks us to seat ourselves at God’s table as part of one interconnected potluck. 

When it comes to potlucks, More-with-Less isn’t my go-to Mennonite cookbook. I struggle to find recipes from this 1976 collection that fit my simple but evolved plant-based palate. It feels like the majority of recipes contain meat and dairy despite the More-with-Less guidance to “use these carefully” as we are “building a simpler diet.”

It is the ethos of mindful, whole-foods and responsible eating as a global community, rather than the recipes, that endears me to this book.

More-with-Less has a heart of gold, and the call to action shines ­brightly. If golden anniversaries symbolize strength, wisdom, prosperity and enduring love, this 50th anniversary edition is a celebration of all that.

One delight from the new edition is the black-and-white illustrations. Flip through the original and 25th editions and you’ll find black-and-white images of the same measuring spoons in changing positions sprinkled throughout. It’s quite comical and curious. I’m aware that the 40th anniversary edition had full-color photography, usually an attractive feature for cookbooks. Yet, when I asked around our congregation to borrow copies of previous printings, nobody had that version.

The 50th anniversary edition restores features from earlier editions, including an “easy-to-use hardcover binder,” perhaps responding to nostalgic longing. Honoring the past, along with inspired updates, results in the version that marks this milestone.

Heather Wolfe is nourished by the Spirit-led work of being a dietitian, health coach, cookbook author and eco-minister at Taftsville Chapel Mennonite Fellowship in Vermont, where she leads a monthly Wild Church gathering. She writes for AW’s online Faithful Living and Eating column.