“Food reveals our souls”
For most of my life I had never questioned my relationship with the food I consume. One time in high school, I tried going vegetarian for a week simply because I wanted to impose a label on myself that would set me aside from others, something that would make me “cool” and “health conscious.” But the rest of the time when I wasn’t taking on a weight loss diet, I unquestioningly consumed the food my mom cooked for me. Food was never a concern because I never had to provide it for myself, or fend for my own health, thus it wasn’t until I moved out for college that I questioned my previous habits and looked for options that aligned with my moral priorities.
I think it’s important to deconstruct western attitudes towards food consumption, especially the “ready-to-go” aspect of pre-packaged foods that favor capitalist values of productivity and quick satisfaction. Belasco highlights how we’re so disconnected from the farm-to-table process that even talking about foodways, in academia or casual conversation, seems almost ridiculous. The author also notes that in the west, we may consume all imported products in one meal, yet we stay oblivious to the journey that they undergo and the hands that cultivated it.
Belasco’s remarks on this human detachment from food reminded me of the novel “Ravensong” by Sto:lo author, Lee Maracle. Particularly, the main character criticizes how white women discard weeds (such as mint, comfrey root, plantain, dandelion and mullein) from their gardens simply for being “unaesthetic,” while on the other hand, these constitute highly valuable sources of food in her community:
“She knew they harvested weeds more or less indiscriminately, using them as crops to be eaten along with whatever store-bought food they could occasionally afford. […] It struck her as pathetically funny that these people should invest so much time in throwing living creatures away when they were still perfectly good.”
I personally found this passage very compelling, as it reminds us to be grateful not just for the catalogue of imported foods that we can access at our local stores, but for the rudimentary and almost sacred foods that our ancestors worked so hard to cultivate.
The excerpt from Ravensong is pertinent to many topics we’ve been discussing thus far in class (more-than-human learning, consumption versus foodways). There’s also something really profound in the word choice that the passage highlights–the difference between “weeds” and “living beings.” Great connection, Daniela.
Hi Daniela!
I found your reflection really interesting, especially since it focused on a reading that I didn’t really reflect on in my own post. I definitely relate to your brief adventure of vegetarianism in high school. When I was in grade 12 my older sister and I tried going vegetarian for one month, just to see if we could do it. Of course, at the time I was working in a kitchen, so I cheated all the time for things like hotdogs and burgers and steak. Though I can’t be one hundred percent sure, I’m pretty certain that my sister cheated throughout the month too. Then, at the end of the 31 days, we celebrated our “success” by ordering a pizza with 4 different kinds of meats on it and no vegetables, and we never thought about it again. It was that easy to just stop thinking about what was in the food that we were eating, and where it was actually coming from.
I suppose that that is how the system has been designed, that’s the whole idea behind it as clearly expressed through this reading. However, I wonder what a difference it would make it we were more aware of the significance of our food and food pathways. If, like you say, we recognized and expressed gratitude for the diversity of our foods and our life here. How would that change our eating habits, our communities, our lifestyles?
Your response to the readings in week 2, particularly the Belasco reading, is a very similar response to the one I wrote. It is very interesting to see that someone else also experienced and recognized how detached we are to food when it is easily available to us. I think it makes us reflect how “ready-to-go” packaging is also a form of modern western colonization because it buries the concept that food has value (which comes from the indigenous).
I think when food is a resource that involves more time and energy to acquire, the more one becomes grateful for it- and arguably, gratitude is often connected with spirituality.
Hi Daniela, I enjoyed reading about your relationship with food and how going to university opened your eyes to previous eating habits and your priorities. I agree with you that it is important to be grateful for not just the food we have available but its sacredness and meaning. I sometimes also try to reflect on how everything I eat nurtures me in different ways and be grateful for my ability to have access to everything I need to grow physically and mentally.
Hi Daniela!:)
I really enjoyed reading your reflection this week. It is very similar to mine as I chose to focus on the Belasco reading and his focus on how we as consumers are so disconnected from the agricultural processes that go into food production as well. I totally agree with you what you mentioned in the beginning about how we tend to blindly consume what is put in front of us without thinking of where this food comes from. This reading definitely challenges the morals or practices we have like you mentioned and I think since most of us haven’t been in situations where we are fending for our survival or are in other less-desirable circumstances that force us to consider what we consume hasn’t ever been a big issue or priority. I hope that the anonymity of food fades as we all make conscious efforts to explore our options and learn about the crucial agricultural practices that take place behind the scenes.