Kitchen Monk · Where it all began
Our Family Story
Kitchen Monk didn’t begin in a clinic. It began in a family in Seaside, Oregon: a grandfather who fed his community, a mother who taught her son what it means to flourish, and a nurse practitioner who is carrying their lessons forward.
The trail: Grandpa Kenneth · Momma Eagle · Carrying the lamp · Two initiatives, one legacy
This page shares personal and family history as Nathanael and his family remember it. Where these people and places appear in The EVERgreen Chronicles, those versions are fiction. The Peter Iredale is a real historic shipwreck on the Oregon Coast; the KENSPEED is its fictional reimagining.
Grandpa Kenneth: a lifestyle medicine champion
My grandfather, Kenneth Smith, was a veteran and a bodybuilder, and he owned Ken and Sons Select Market in Seaside, Oregon. He and my Swedish grandmother, Carolyn Smith, are the roots of our family’s story.
Long before I knew the words “lifestyle medicine,” I watched Grandpa live it. He brought healthy food to our local community, and he was someone people could depend on and reach. He loved everyone, and he wanted everyone to flourish. His market was my first lifestyle medicine center, and he was a lifestyle medicine champion long before anyone called it that.
In The EVERgreen Chronicles, his market lives on as the Ken, Daughter & Grandsons EVERgreen Market, a name that carries his legacy forward through his daughter and his grandsons. His memory and his legacy will be remembered here, always.
Grandpa Ken was always looking for the bridge to Hawaii. We never did find it. But whenever he headed off, he’d tell me he would call as soon as he could, the minute he got back. I like to think the KENSPEED is still out there searching for that bridge, and that one day the phone will ring.
Momma Eagle: my first SHEro
My mother, Nina Delores Smith of Seaside, Oregon, is Momma Eagle, my first SHEro. My whole life, she has taught me what it means to flourish.
This July, as America celebrated its 250th birthday, my mom and I stood together at sunset on the Oregon Coast, with the old shipwreck known as the Peter Iredale resting behind us. It was a moment of motherly love and restoration between a mother and her son, and a reminder that flourishing often begins at home.
Carrying the lamp
Years later, as a nurse practitioner, I found that the lessons of my family, from my grandfather’s market to my mother’s love, were the same lessons at the heart of lifestyle medicine. Kitchen Monk and The EVERgreen Chronicles are how I carry that lamp forward.
Two initiatives, one family legacy
What my mom and my grandpa taught me is growing into two Kitchen Monk initiatives.
🌿 The Garden of Eden Initiative
◐ IN DEVELOPMENT Inspired by my mom
My mom taught me, my whole life, how to flourish. The Garden of Eden Initiative carries that lesson forward: helping people, families, and communities grow the conditions to flourish together.
🛒 The Lifestyle Medicine Grocery Store Initiative
◐ IN DEVELOPMENT Inspired by my grandpa
Grandpa taught me that healthy food belongs where people already shop, and that a neighborhood market can be a place of health. This initiative carries his vision forward: a grocery store where healthy food is dependable and within reach for everyone.
Both initiatives are in development. Neither is open or operating yet. If you’d like to help shape them, we’d love to hear from you.
🦅 Dedication
For my mother, Nina Delores Smith, Momma Eagle, my first SHEro. And for my Swedish grandmother, Carolyn Smith, and my grandfather, Kenneth Smith, who loved everyone and wanted everyone to flourish. Everything here is dedicated to my family.
— Nathanael Elijah Smith
Continue your journey 🐾
Start Here: one step, one meal →
Read The Book of the Lamp →
Learn What Kitchen Monk Is Today →
Put your light on the Community Map →
