Come get fed…
Welcome to the table! I’m Ashley David, your host, and I stand by these two truths:
food is love, and
beauty saves us.
The first implies a fundamentally nourishing exchange. This exchange connects us to the earth and each other when we recognize and appreciate the forces that collaborate to yield sustenance and, in turn, infuse the food we share with love for self and other. The second offers hope, even in the worst moments, providing, of course, that we train ourselves to notice and take it in.
Together, these deceptively simple truths are essentially about conscious giving and receiving to create inspiring connection. This magical exchange yields a generous offering—a rich and enriching way through. Body, brain, and soul.
So, I invite you to come get fed. Pull up a chair and join special guests and me at this table laden with beauty and love. A table set in cities and wild places, from the kitchen to the garden, by the hearth, and among the mountains, deserts, rivers, and oceans that frame and sustain.
Morsel by morsel, a global roster of musicians, artists, writers, growers, gleaners, cooks, and craftspeople are cooking up a smorgasbord of eclectic treats for you. Together, we’ll create a space and offer inspiration to nourish and nurture your creative capacity to thrive. You are what you eat. So, come get fed, beautiful.
Big love, Ashley
What Can I Bring?
FED is a participant-created and supported publication and community. We value human connection, equity, and inclusive community-making over commodity exchange, and we’ve found a way to put our money where our mouth is so to speak.
We’ve created a sustainable economic system that shifts the focus from the exchange of goods and services for cash to a connection-exchange, which creates deeper ties and binds us together in community. By relying on a globally expressed principle that’s been around for thousands of years—gift-exchange economies—we collaborate with each other and you to create connection and foster bountiful feelings of generosity, care, and inclusion.
Here’s how it works…
It’s a simple 2-step process:
Get—receive—the gift of FED by subscribing for a free subscription. The community makes this possible because contributors, editorial, and readers like you have all pitched in so we can offer you an all-access place at the FED table. Accepting this gift is half of the connection-exchange equation. It begins to bind us together.
Give—pass on—the gift to others by upgrading your subscription to paid. A paid subscription makes it possible for others to join us at the table and for us to create the smorgasbord. Upgrading your subscription, at a rate that reflects your values, priorities, and means, is the other half of the connection-exchange equation. It completes the loop and sustains the community.
Giving AND receiving—across time and space—creates connection and fosters bountiful feelings of generosity. Doing both says, “Yes!” to inclusive community. It’s a big dose of beauty and love—gift-exchange economy style—for yourself and others.
For more on gift-exchange economies and the model FED relies on aka EKonomy, check out Exquisite Knowing.
So, I should upgrade?
Yes! Complete your Get-Give link in the community chain. Generosity feels good!
Never miss a tasty morsel…
Both free-gift subscriptions and upgraded, pass-it-forward, paid subscriptions guarantee that every new post is sent directly to email. If email’s not your thing, you can change your settings to keep posts out of your inbox and enjoy FED directly on the website. Or, do both! (There’s an app option, too, and please feel free to try it out, but we’ve found that the interface isn’t as user-friendly or feel-good as many readers are finding the website and personal email delivery to be.)
Join the conversation…
Empower yourself to be a vital participant in FED’s inclusive community by upgrading your free-gift subscription to a pass-it-forward, paid subscription. By pitching in to sustain the community, you’ll also be able to add your voice to the conversation via comments. Win-Win! (Comments are closed for free subscriptions as a troll-mitigating measure.)
FED’s Editorial Philosophy
Special guests join us as contributors by invitation rather than open submissions. That said, if you, or someone you know, might be a perfect fit, please give us a heads-up so we can explore the possibilities. Our editorial philosophy is explored in the early post “Come & Get It,” and distilled here:
Cook up the most balanced meal possible, and let the people eat.
Levity figures prominently but doesn’t laugh away horror or humanity.
Make room at the table—generosity feels good.
To learn more about the tech platform that powers this publication, visit Substack.com.
