It’s been a long time since I’ve written. I’ve had my head down, finishing a book, teaching, and working on some articles, one of which is posted on line today.
The piece will appear on Sunday in the New York Times Magazine’s annual food issue. It’s about the California Ballot Initiative to require the labeling of
genetically modified food. This might seem like a local political fight, but the ramifications, I contend, are national—in fact, the campaign represents a moment of truth for the food movement. The essay is very much about the state of that movement, and whether
the time has come to move from “voting with your fork” to voting with our votes-- for a more sustainable and transparent food system. I hope you’ll take the time to read it and let me know what you think, at
[log in to unmask].
On other matters, I’m very excited to have finished my new book,
COOKED: A Natural History of Transformation. My longest book since
The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Cooked continues my exploration of the food chain, looking at a link I had only touched on before but have begun
to think may be the most important.
The industrialization of agriculture is inextricably bound up with the industrialization of eating—the fact that most Americans today are outsourcing the preparation
of their meals to corporations. It turns out corporations don’t cook very well, and the cost of letting them try–to our health and the health of our families and communities—is far too high. Unless people are willing to take back some of the work of cooking,
the food chain is likely to remain too long, too opaque, and too destructive. (It’s hard to break free of the industrial food economy, or support local food chains, if you don’t know what to do with fresh produce.) What I discovered – in the course of apprenticing
myself to a series of gifted cooks, pit masters, bakers, and fermenters—is just how gratifying reclaiming this part of life can be—and how much cooking has to teach us about nature, on the one side, and community on the other. The “reporting” for this book
was by far the most fun I’ve ever had as a writer. And in fact to the extent I argue my case, it is mainly on the grounds of sheer pleasure.
The book is out on April 23, and I will be traveling extensively in the weeks following, very possibly to a place near you. Watch my website for the schedule.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the article and will look forward to hearing from you.
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