LUKE COMER

Luke Comer is an independent producer, director, and writer who owns his own projects and works in various mediums. He is the director and lead author of The First Supper, the series of books about the relationship between human evolution and food; the executive producer and co-producer of the Colorado festival Arise, which features music, art, ritual, and healing; the executive producer and creative director of The Portal, the show about one man’s quest for empowerment and revelation in the desert; and the author of Yoke of Wind, a novel about a slave revolt on an island off the coast of Florida. He also occasionally produces the small, local trance dance called Ride the Dragon. He is one of the original investors in Meow Wolf and Electric Playhouse.

For decades he studied human biological and cultural evolution in various forms relating to food, psychology, sociobiology, art, and shamanism. Through these studies he strives to identify the fundamental and biological needs of humans that are not met in modern society—and then devises ways of fulfilling those needs. His various works range from strict, scientific reductionism to imaginative, spiritual explorations.

He was born and raised in small towns in Alabama, the scion of two families that operated large corporations but he was mostly interested in drumming for his rock band, Chopped Liver, drawing pictures, and reading books about philosophy—and even more interested in exploring the woods and coastlines around his home. Later he clashed with prep school and, after being threatened with expulsion, traveled through Asia in search of enlightenment and adventure. He then attended Oberlin College to study broadly in the liberal arts. After graduation he ran therapeutic, wilderness courses for adjudicated, inner-city teenagers; then worked for one of his family’s companies; and then opened the innovative, natural foods restaurant called Native, in Boulder, CO. In his late twenties, he went through a psychological, spiritual, and physical crisis and dropped out of work for two years to pursue various modalities of healing including psychotherapy, psychedelics, meditation, and nutrition while taking long trips into the wilderness. He then committed himself to creating the content listed above.

He is currently developing another project related to The First Supper, momentarily entitled The Ultimate Meal, which provides whole natural meals that are nutritionally designed to optimize human physiology.

In his spare time, Luke has pursued outdoor sports both in the mountains and on the oceans. He loves to dance to electronic music.

JENNIFER POWERS

I have embodied many different incarnations in my life thus far, but each one has led me closer and closer to my true nature. In my youth, I was an athlete, and it was my basketball skill that defined who I thought I was. In college, I transitioned from athlete to academic (thanks to numerous knee injuries and a hungry mind) and pursued my degree in chemical engineering. In my 20’s I earned my PhD in immunology and became a seeker of knowledge through scholarly scientific discovery. The more I learned about the human body, the more reverence and wonder I had for it. My next (and best) incarnation was becoming a mom, which was an experience in plate tectonics. My identity shifted wildly from a scientific seeker of knowledge to a spiritual seeker of truth, as I learned to recognize what was truly important in life. When I finally gave myself permission to dream about being an author (an undercurrent always swirling at the edges of my life), I became an aspiring middle-grade novelist and writer for kids. It was the opportunity to write combined with the pursuit of science infused with spirituality that drew me to Luke and this project. I am endlessly toppled over in awe by the research and discovery of human nature and humbled by the study of our amazing ancestors.

JIMIKAYE COURTNEY

I am a doctoral candidate in the Health and Exercise Science Department at Colorado State University. My mentor is Dr. Kaigang Li. My career goal is to become a data scientist specializing in understanding the relationships between lifestyle behaviors and health outcomes—for example, how participation in physical activity relates to cardiovascular disease risk. I am also interested in examining how psychosocial factors, like stress, play a role as determinants of lifestyle behaviors and associated health outcomes. I hope that my research examining the relationships between psychosocial determinants of health, lifestyle behaviors, and health outcomes will help inform the development of robust, methodologically-sound research studies, effective interventions for improving health, and public health recommendations.”

I like the First Supper project because it provides a new and unique perspective on the intersect between human evolution and modern-day nutrition. The First Supper integrates social aspects of food choices and consumption that have not been previously considered in this context and is needed because most food is consumed with and/or around others!

MARTHA HAMMEL, CNS

I am a nutritionist and researcher in Boulder, CO specializing in neurological rehabilitation, addiction, and mental health.  When not meeting with clients or pouring over research papers you can find me in the mountains skiing, biking, climbing, or hiking.