Meals at the retreat center
The retreat center describes itself as "not equipped to accommodate individual diets." This can be frustrating for those of us with special dietary needs and for whom food choices express ethical beliefs.
It is worth knowing that the retreat center's position is not meant to be uncaring, but is itself an expression of ethical beliefs. This excerpt from Kathleen Norris's book The Cloister Walk describes monastic thinking about food choices and meals:
"To eat in a monastery refectory is an exercise in humility; daily, one is reminded to put communal necessity before individual preference. While consumer culture speaks only to preferences, treating even whims as needs to be granted (and the sooner the better), monastics sense that this pandering to delusions of self-importance weakens the true self, and diminishes our ability to distinguish desires from needs. It's a price they're not willing to pay.
Being in a consumer culture, monastic people must be vigilant, remaining intentional about areas of life that most of us treat casually, with little awareness of what we're doing. One year at the American Benedictine Academy convention, an abbot, speaking on the subject of "The Monastic Archetype," suddenly dropped all pretense to objectivity and said he was troubled by the growing number of cereals made available for breakfast in his community. "How many kinds of cereals do we need," he asked, "in order meet genuine health needs without falling into thoughtless consumerism?" The audience of several hundred Benedictine men and women broke into applause, obviously grateful that he'd captured, in one seemingly trivial example, an unease that many of them share about the way they live in contemporary America."
It is worth knowing that the retreat center's position is not meant to be uncaring, but is itself an expression of ethical beliefs. This excerpt from Kathleen Norris's book The Cloister Walk describes monastic thinking about food choices and meals:
"To eat in a monastery refectory is an exercise in humility; daily, one is reminded to put communal necessity before individual preference. While consumer culture speaks only to preferences, treating even whims as needs to be granted (and the sooner the better), monastics sense that this pandering to delusions of self-importance weakens the true self, and diminishes our ability to distinguish desires from needs. It's a price they're not willing to pay.
Being in a consumer culture, monastic people must be vigilant, remaining intentional about areas of life that most of us treat casually, with little awareness of what we're doing. One year at the American Benedictine Academy convention, an abbot, speaking on the subject of "The Monastic Archetype," suddenly dropped all pretense to objectivity and said he was troubled by the growing number of cereals made available for breakfast in his community. "How many kinds of cereals do we need," he asked, "in order meet genuine health needs without falling into thoughtless consumerism?" The audience of several hundred Benedictine men and women broke into applause, obviously grateful that he'd captured, in one seemingly trivial example, an unease that many of them share about the way they live in contemporary America."
Your registration fees include all meals, and we do report to them what our group dietary needs are in advance of the retreat. However, we encourage those with the following diets to supplement retreat meals by bringing their own food and/or requesting groceries on Monday of the retreat (one of our retreat staff makes a grocery run to Whole Foods and Trader Joe's):
Our retreat space includes a kitchenette with a refrigerator, a microwave oven, and an oven. There is space for you to keep your food items, labelled with your name.
The week's menu will be sent out in advance of the retreat. Here is a rough draft of the 2022 retreat menu (pdf).
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
- Gluten Free
Our retreat space includes a kitchenette with a refrigerator, a microwave oven, and an oven. There is space for you to keep your food items, labelled with your name.
The week's menu will be sent out in advance of the retreat. Here is a rough draft of the 2022 retreat menu (pdf).
Sample menu
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday:
Thursday
Friday
- Dinner: Chicken enchiladas, rice beans, salad and churros
Monday
- Breakfast: Eggs, toast, hot and cold cereal, hard boiled eggs, yogurt, fresh fruit, fruit juices
- Lunch: Greek salad (peppers, cucumber, feta, kalamata olives, spinach and tomato), pita, orzo salad, fruit, cookie and chips
- Dinner: Mahi Mahi, kitchen rice, bok choi green beans, salad, bread
Tuesday
- Breakfast: green chili casserole, hot and cold cereal, hard boiled eggs, yogurt, fresh fruit, fruit juices
- Lunch: Grilled brats, grilled onions and peppers, sauerkraut, potato salad, fruit, cookie and chips
- Dinner: grilled chicken, yellow squash, roasted red potatoes, grilled tomatoes, salad, bread
Wednesday:
- Breakfast: Pancakes, hot and cold cereal, hard boiled eggs, yogurt, fresh fruit, fruit juices
- Lunch: Meat and vegetarian heroes, tomato basil salad, chips, fruit, ice cream bar
- Dinner: Chuck roast, noodles, zucchini, peas, salad, bread
Thursday
- Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, hot and cold cereal, hard boiled eggs, yogurt, fresh fruit, fruit juices
- Lunch: Chicken patties, cheese panini, lettuce, tomato, pickles, cole slaw, cauliflower salad, fruit, cookie
- Dinner: Meatballs in red sauce, gluten free pasta primavera, garlic bread, salad
Friday
- Breakfast: eggs, hot and cold cereal, hard boiled eggs, yogurt, fresh fruit, fruit juices
- Lunch: Brava salad (potato, hard boiled egg, green beans, tomato, carrots, tuna), brown rice, bread, fruit and a cookie.
