A number of years ago, I had the good fortune to participate as a volunteer at the annual Kushi Institute (KI) Summer Conference. I spent a lot of my time in the kitchen, of course, but also was able to attend a number of classes given by some the country’s leading teachers in the fields of natural cookery, healing and macrobiotics. I particularly remember a cooking class with the always-enthusiastic Christina Pirello. That conference was held on a college campus near Providence R.I., and was memorable because in addition to the hundreds of slim conference attendees, also on campus were the bulky members of the New English Patriots football team who were engaged in their preseason training camp. The contrast could not have been more stark!
This year’s conference, which runs from July 26th to August 9th, is being held at the Kushi Institute itself, at their 600-acre site in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts.The folks at the KI have told me that registration is still open and you may attend all, or any part of the conference, and they will offer a 10% discount to MacroChef readers. Time at the conference could be a refreshing and inspiring way to spend a vacation, and a great place to make new friends. Full info is here. If you do attend, could you tell MacroChef readers about your experience in the comments section of this article? Thanks, and I hope you are having a great summer!
the MacroChef 
I heard so much about conference preparations when I was there in March. I believe this is only the second year that the are holding the conference at the KI campus (as opposed to a hotel or other type of facility). I’d love to go sometime; maybe next year. The campus is beautiful (or at least from what I can tell after spending two weeks there in late winter), but slightly remote, so it’s not overly easy to get to. However I hope to go next year. The institute truly is a magical place; heck I’m hoping to go back for more lessons before next summer!