Food, the counter-revolution….
….we were at a party last weekend, and wound up sitting with two other couples at a table in the kitchen. (I always position myself to watch the cook, if possible, or at least be closer to the “seconds”.)
Near the end of the dinner, one of the women at the table commented this was the first time she had had a meal with a group of people and not one had pulled out a smart phone during the course of the dinner to check for email messages. It was true, we were unhooked for more than an hour and not one of us was experiencing tremors.
I was reminded of that when I read an excerpt from Michael Pollan‘s latest book, “Cooked”. Pollan, of Omnivore’s Dilemma fame, brings the same total research, and personal involvement to cooking that he did to producing the food we eat.
I think it’s interesting that this strikingly powerful interest in all things having to do with food coincides with a progressively more mediated, digitized life. We spend our time in front of screens. We don’t exercise our other senses very much. And food is this complete sensory experience. It engages all five senses. It’s a sensual pleasure. And it is also—and I think this is a very important part of the food movement—really a communitarian movement. What’s driving people to food in many, many places is the kind of experience you can have at a farmers’ market. It’s really a new public square.
New York Magazine, marking the publication of “Cooked”, did a lengthy interview with Pollan. This is one of those times I recommend getting a cup of coffee and sitting down to be entertained….digitally!
http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2013/04/michael–pollan-in-conversation-with-adam–platt.html
And if you want to order the new Pollan book, here’s the Amazon link: