if i've been feeling a little more depressed lately, it's not the (mild) winter season that is to blame (although i do wish it would snow); it's probably the fault of the book i'm reading. the omnivore's dilemma is darkening my (already dark) view of the world. (it also doesn't help that we're going through a series on the seven deadly sins at church....bringing man's egregiousness to mind even more).i'm reading about the industrialization of our food and the way we've transformed the food process into something so far removed from nature it's disturbing. and profane and crazy and nightmarish. while it affirms for me the benefits of being a vegetarian/pescaterian (which i have to admit i am for purely selfish reasons although now i'm considering not eating fish), it makes me despair of sustaining ourselves in an environment which is so quickly and efficiently being destroyed by our ferocity and rapaciousness.
mark bittman's recent article in the times rehashes pollan's argument in an abbreviated version, and it's no less powerful for being two pages long. so if you don't pick up pollan's book, at least read this article.
3 comments:
Hey Mare!
I remember reading about how great Americans are at removing themselves from the realization that the meat we eat comes from an animal. From the packing to processing, we not only are made to forget what we are eating, but we ignore the waste we choose not to consume, whereas most countries make an effort to utilize as much animal as possible.
Thank you UCSB for one of my most favorite classes, "Anthropology of Food."
i would have liked to have taken that class!
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