I resettled a few years ago and now live next to an Amish community. I was intrigued by their use of horses and wagons and rejection of internal heating systems, but anxious to visit a large market and nursery they established. Frankly I was shocked. It was and still is full of processed foods, not just packaged convenience foods, that could be from anywhere, even their dairy and meat products. Their plant nursery and produce garden was at least as disappointing, generic Big Box store varieties, and nothing pesticide or herbicide free. The culture seems like it is hanging on, but at a cost.
So thoughtful and challenging, so much to contemplate, particularly societal control via gastroexpansionism. It's frightening and an existential threat. Can you write more about this in terms of external societal order as well as internal order? And about the effects on U.S. society as other powerful nations have become partners in this effort and how they have pushed back or become competitors?
Thank you for this! It’s an idea I had while working on this piece, and I think it’s certainly worth contemplating--my book talks lightly about the US approach being exported, but I also want to explore the idea more re: both internal / external influence.
I’m so sad I’ll have to miss your chat with Rebecca May Johnson due to surgery, but I am *thrilled* to hear you’re coming to Bold Fork for your book tour later this year! It’s my local bookstore and their team is the absolute best and most lovely group of humans. 🩵
I used to make a dynamite passion fruit curd by substituting 1/4 cup passion fruit puree for 1/4 cup lemon juice in Barbara Kafka's Microwave Gourmet and then adding a tsp of lemon juice and agave as needed. I realize you don't have a microwave but in the event the proportions are useful. . .
Only the east coast so far! I was only told (because my literary agent asked!) that there was a budget for my tour from the publisher like 2 weeks ago; I’d been under the impression I was paying, thus limited it... I will try to make it to the west coast eventually!
This is truly an outstanding piece. One of the things I like so much about your writing is how you challenge readers to think - this is an essay that achieves exactly that...
And this, "Our commonalities across all differences in the U.S. emerge through interaction with fast and widely available processed foods." makes me a bit sad, even though I believe you are correct!
I wondered. I'll be interested to learn what you do instead. Optimistic too: It's been years since I've made chocolate pudding without tofu: It has become my new normal.
Silken tofu works wonders in a chocolate pudding! No one ever knows. I use agar for a mousse-like texture a lot, just because I always have agar powder around.
Two years ago, on an unseasonably warm day in late-September, I was standing in a field in Pennslyvania picking cherry tomatoes at my local CSA. I was struck by the abundance that surrounded me. There were simply too many tomatoes and not enough people to pick them. Not enough people to enjoy eating them. Our system is truly bizarre. Somehow my presence in a “dirty” field is an ideological statement that bucks the established norm. A norm that basically forces people and government institutions to purchase mediocre quality ingredients grown in far away lands at really high prices. There is such a disconnect. Maybe things will improve? Yesterday, I was listening to an NPR story about an Alaskan school district that changed its academic calendar so the students could learn traditional food gathering skills through hands on experience. The district actually stores the food and the children get to eat the foods they collected later on in the academic year. The thought of a program like this made me smile.
I resettled a few years ago and now live next to an Amish community. I was intrigued by their use of horses and wagons and rejection of internal heating systems, but anxious to visit a large market and nursery they established. Frankly I was shocked. It was and still is full of processed foods, not just packaged convenience foods, that could be from anywhere, even their dairy and meat products. Their plant nursery and produce garden was at least as disappointing, generic Big Box store varieties, and nothing pesticide or herbicide free. The culture seems like it is hanging on, but at a cost.
So thoughtful and challenging, so much to contemplate, particularly societal control via gastroexpansionism. It's frightening and an existential threat. Can you write more about this in terms of external societal order as well as internal order? And about the effects on U.S. society as other powerful nations have become partners in this effort and how they have pushed back or become competitors?
Thank you for this! It’s an idea I had while working on this piece, and I think it’s certainly worth contemplating--my book talks lightly about the US approach being exported, but I also want to explore the idea more re: both internal / external influence.
I’m so sad I’ll have to miss your chat with Rebecca May Johnson due to surgery, but I am *thrilled* to hear you’re coming to Bold Fork for your book tour later this year! It’s my local bookstore and their team is the absolute best and most lovely group of humans. 🩵
I used to make a dynamite passion fruit curd by substituting 1/4 cup passion fruit puree for 1/4 cup lemon juice in Barbara Kafka's Microwave Gourmet and then adding a tsp of lemon juice and agave as needed. I realize you don't have a microwave but in the event the proportions are useful. . .
Thank you! I have a vegan version I developed for a forthcoming cookbook that I've been playing with more while they're in season.
I can only second Cary’s comment - so thoughtful, so many great observations, so well organised wrt the writing.
About the Sept book tour... hope you are coming to the Bay Area! Or maybe even venturing in SoCal way out to Coachella Valley area? 🙏🏻
Only the east coast so far! I was only told (because my literary agent asked!) that there was a budget for my tour from the publisher like 2 weeks ago; I’d been under the impression I was paying, thus limited it... I will try to make it to the west coast eventually!
Please..... 😊
This is truly an outstanding piece. One of the things I like so much about your writing is how you challenge readers to think - this is an essay that achieves exactly that...
And this, "Our commonalities across all differences in the U.S. emerge through interaction with fast and widely available processed foods." makes me a bit sad, even though I believe you are correct!
Thank you so much for the kind words--and yes, it is sad!
I wondered. I'll be interested to learn what you do instead. Optimistic too: It's been years since I've made chocolate pudding without tofu: It has become my new normal.
Silken tofu works wonders in a chocolate pudding! No one ever knows. I use agar for a mousse-like texture a lot, just because I always have agar powder around.
Two years ago, on an unseasonably warm day in late-September, I was standing in a field in Pennslyvania picking cherry tomatoes at my local CSA. I was struck by the abundance that surrounded me. There were simply too many tomatoes and not enough people to pick them. Not enough people to enjoy eating them. Our system is truly bizarre. Somehow my presence in a “dirty” field is an ideological statement that bucks the established norm. A norm that basically forces people and government institutions to purchase mediocre quality ingredients grown in far away lands at really high prices. There is such a disconnect. Maybe things will improve? Yesterday, I was listening to an NPR story about an Alaskan school district that changed its academic calendar so the students could learn traditional food gathering skills through hands on experience. The district actually stores the food and the children get to eat the foods they collected later on in the academic year. The thought of a program like this made me smile.
https://www.npr.org/2023/08/24/1195757946/an-alaska-school-district-set-its-year-so-kids-could-learn-traditional-ways-of-l