A Delicious Revolution

Last night, I went to a very interesting talk at Harvard University. Sometimes, you have to be there to drink in the author's every word + pay attention to the responses the writer evokes in the audience. Just reading a book some one's written is not enough.


The panelists were:
Alice Waters (the Chez Panisse Foundation)
Josh Viertel (President of Slow Food USA)
Anna Deveare-Smith (Playwright)

"We're conditioned to think of food as fuel. Eating has become disconnected from nature and culture," says Waters

Imagine plucking a ripe strawberry from your backyard. You bite into the heart-shaped fruit delighting in the fragrance and the sweetness even while it is still warm from the sun. That is what the new movement is trying to achieve -- an appreciation of food and relating to where it really comes from: the good earth.

Well, if that is a bit much for the average Bostonian, consider this: Essentially, it is ridiculous to live in New England and have the option of picking up a box of strawberries from the local supermarket at the height of winter. This summer fruit is being flown in -- at great cost to the planet -- from another country, in another continent, possibly. For all that, it sits in the fridge, gets disgustingly mildewed, and becomes fit to be thrown away without too many qualms.

Even eating exotic fruit can be such a chore sometimes! Alas, we grew up as spoilt kids in an era of plenty. Can we change now?

The moderator Harvard's Homi Bhaba wanted to know if he could satisfy the craving for alphonso mangoes from his small orchard near Mumbai, India. Occasional indulgences are OK, said Viertel. For instance, he himself loves Scotch but drinks water everyday.

But imagine the eco-plight of tropical immigrants who keep their food cultures alive in the U.S.. Not only do they indulge in the occasional exotic fruit, sometimes, their staples too are from faraway lands. Changing food habits completely will be hard. Besides, even if they wanted to do it, they need extra help to start eating locally and seasonally.

For starters, this fall someone has to teach such folks to cook those forbidding-looking pumpkins and other autumnal produce! So, what do you do, take a machete to these ungainly gourds or bake them till they soft enough to cut with a kitchen knife?

Also check out Melinda W.'s Is there Room for Meat in a Green Diet?