To talk about stories centred around food while simultaneously witnessing the forced starvation of populations around the world would seem thoughtless, cruel, antagonistic even, if not for the fact that food, like most of what we consume, is inherently political.Mona Zahed is a mother, eight times displaced Palestinian chef and published author of her very own cookbook TABKHA: Recipes from Under the Rubble . When we chatted a couple of days ago, she had walked for hours to find flour. She says hunger has worn their bodies down. We can help. TABKHA began as an idea from her tent in Gaza where she documented ancestral recipes. She met Akko, a Japanese chef online who suggested Mona create a booklet that could be sold to raise funds. Chef Akko helped Mona start the process and then sold copies in Germany and Japan. Coffees for Gaza, an initiative requesting donations for the price of a coffee to raise funds for families, supported Mona to develop the booklet into an illustrated recipe book. Once a passionate entrepreneur, running a catering business, Mona’s food was enjoyed by friends and family at events and celebrations. Her most loved recipes – twenty-two in the first edition – are a form of resistance, ensuring that her heritage lives and her book – published by Slingshot Books – serves not only to nourish her and her family but many other families in her community along the way. If you are still unsure of what collective liberation looks like – this is it, in action. TABKHA is a cookbook you want to hold in your hands, experiment with the beautifully illustrated recipes, each one by its very own artist, and savour. Mona offers vegetarian and vegan recipes among the collection. If you’ve been wondering how you can support families in Gaza, please consider purchasing this book. All proceeds will go directly to support Mona and her community. Purchase TABKHA: Recipes from Under the Rubble by pre ordering the second edition, complete with additional recipes from Slingshot Books. I also found it available in Canada at Seedling Books.You can follow Mona and her family’s journey online here. Learn more about editions of Tabkha Book here.