Tag: local food

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Discourse for dinner

This is not just any blog. It is a local blog. Or at least you could pretend I live in your street, and shop in your mall. Does that makes this post more palatable?

It seems to work that way with food. At least where I come from, a dish that is “from our own garden” is supposed to be of high quality, not a sign of poverty. Chad Nilep, in an elegant post on the Linguistic Anthropology blog reflects on the Japanese preference for “naichimai”, Japanese grown rice ((Ed.: Coincidentally, there’s more on Japanese crops over at Vaviblog today.)):

Thus (I thought to myself this afternoon), while consuming naichimai, Japanese consumers enjoy not only the material element of the rice itself, but also the melancholic discourses of national nostalgia, imagined though they may be.

But you could also imagine that I live in a far and exotic place where we produce and eat food that you can only envy. Europe is full of that tradition: ham and cheese from Parma, bubbly wine from Champagne. You name it.

Ask for the main discourse the next time you are eating out.

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Pollan for president

In an open letter in the New York Times magazine, slow food pundit Michael Pollan urges the next US president, the Farmer in Chief, to

Reform the entire food system: unless you do, you will not be able to make significant progress on the health care crisis, energy independence or climate change. Unlike food, these are issues you did campaign on.

His main point is that the US should wean from oil, and resolarize the farm. I can see where he is coming from, but does he really want all that backbreaking drudgery again? Yikes.

Pollan also says that the government should encourage farmers to

grow as many different crops and animals as possible. Because the greater the diversity of crops on a farm, the less the need for both fertilizers and pesticides.

Fair enough, but at what cost? Pollan says that we do not know, because we haven’t tried. Well, I would agree that organic agriculture can be very productive, but kicking out fertilizers all together is a foolish idea.

It is a long article, and it has a long list of policy objectives: “Perennialize” commodity agriculture; Enhance national security by decentralization of the food system; Four-Season Farmers’ Markets; And, create a Federal Definition of “Food.” (I believe the goal is to make it illegal to call junk, food).

Pollan is a bit too much of a romantic to my taste. But then I am not much of a visionary. The US certainly should change some of its bad food habits. Our times call for a presidents who withstands the Agro-Industrial Complex (and who does not fear Iowa’s voters). If anything, Mr. President should take Pollan’s most daring advice: rip a section of the White House lawn, and farm and govern by example.