A Seattle native, Lisa began her food service career at age 14. Her deep love for food and restaurants gave her a place in the culinary field which would eventually lead to owning her own restaurant. After years of successful restaurant ownership Becklund realized she had become obsessed with local sustainable food production. The Farmers' Market had become a major source of inspiration which sparked the realization that what she really wanted was to be a farmer herself. In 2003 Becklund sold her restaurant and moved to Tulsa to live her dream. Becklund set down roots on a 7 acre homestead called The Living Kitchen. Becklund's Farm Table Dinners celebrate the relationship between consumers and grower which ultimately leads to better food and better health.
She's also the Chef at OSU's Seretean Wellness center and teaches cooking classes and manages a food/cooking blog at cowboybites@blogspot.com
Sustainability is described as an act or a culture of practices in which its infinite continuance will not be disturbed by the process of that act or that culture. Vague? the truth is, sustainability has many different meanings for many different people. Its like an onion with many different layers; Health, environment, ecology, Social, and even financial issues are all contained within this complex word sustainable.
What Makes us at Living Kitchen sustainable?
Lets go down the line starting with Health. We believe the earth, the animals and people deserve to be healthy and happy. Because of this we use only organic holistic approaches to growing vegetables, raising animals and taking good care of our soil. In our preparation of food we think of dishes that work with our bodies instead of against them by using whole nutrient dense foods that were harvested or preserved at the peak of freshness.
We create a sustainable environment in many different ways. We believe strongly in conservation. Even though we are on a well and have a septic system we also use a composting toilet which saves us at least 10 gallons of water a day! We create a aged compost which is added to our flower beds every two years.
Although we are not "off grid" yet, we use energy saving florescent bulbs in most every lamp. All of our food scraps and paper products are composted, leaving us with very little refuse to send to our local land fill. 95% of all the food we use for ourselves and our guests comes from the state of Oklahoma, keeping our money in the community which also saves petrol miles and carbon emissions. We also recycle all glass, aluminum, plastic, although we try to buy things with very minimal packaging.
Without seeming Like "hippies" or "tree huggers" (We do hug trees all the time) we are trying to create a farm and a place to live and work that benefits the earth and our community. We are not perfect and we find much of this life very challenging, but there is no other choice for us because this life is more gratifying and fulfilling than anything we could have imagined.
We have been overwhelmingly fortunate to have friends who have supported and taught us the "farm way". We have learned so much from our friends and colleagues it has made our life a little easier but also extremely fulfilling. We love to share what we have learned and created, and welcome questions and advice. We are always learning and always growing, and there really isn't a dull moment.
