Throughout the first few weeks of Food and Travel writing, I've been thinking a lot about the choices we have as individuals who consume food. While I was reading the first section of Michael Pollan's the Omnivore's Dilemma, the conflict of "what should we have for dinner" and the idea that we choose what we're eating became even more apparent.
I had heard food-conscious friends talk about how corn is in everything, but it didn't really phase me. It could’t be in everything, that just sounded ridiculous. But by the time I got to the end of the introduction, I was freaking out. The lines that have stuck with me through Part I—Industrial Corn were on pages 10-11:
What is perhaps most troubling, and sad, about industrial eating is how thoroughly it obscures all [of our] relationships and connections [. . .] Forgetting, or not knowing in the first place, is what the industrial food chain is all about, the principal reason it is so opaque, for if we could see what lies on the far side of the increasingly high walls of our industrial agriculture, we would surely change the way we eat.
This concept of 'eating blindly' has really been bothering me throughout the course and this investigative book seems to be getting at the heart of it.
Now, I hope this connection doesn't come off as crude, but since I've been thinking about our lack of insight to our diets, I keep going back to a story my friend told me about going to a'dining in the dark' restaurant when she was in Montreal. The restaurant is literally opaque, as in there is zero lighting in the whole restaurant. The guests choose their meal before entering the dining area and are led to their tables by seeing-impaired or blind waiters.
I know there's not a connection to an individuals actual ability to see and the ignorance Michael Pollan discusses, but I think the way the restaurant highlights one's perception of food links closely to what Pollan is saying. Plus, the concept of—literally—eating in complete darkness seems pretty cool—if not really intimidating. It has also become a wide-spread fad since it was first invented in Zurich. This Time Magazine article explains the alluring concept of eating in the dark.
And just for your entertainment, here's the funny 'Where's the Beef?' commercial they allude to in the Time Magazine story.
Also, Michael Pollan has a really beautiful website if you'd like to check it out.
Hannah,
ReplyDeleteThis is really an interesting topic. I, too, have been thinking a lot about "eating blindly," particularly now that I'm eating the majority of my meals out of the Sodexo dining room. When I was living at home, even if I didn't prepare all the food myself, I could watch my mother make our dinner from scratch and at least knew more or less what my food was, and (to some extent) where it came from. Here at K-College, I feel like I am blindly consuming a whole variety of foods that I don't actually know where they come from or what they even are. As we all know, Sodexo food rarely looks and tastes like the food it's promised to be, so that makes me wonder WHAT EXACTLY AM I EATING?? Although this Food and Travel class has really brought that issue to light, I'm honestly kind of scared to find out the truth about what goes into the big Sodexo kettles!
I completely agree: it makes me think back to flavorists (a profession that is still super intriguing to me) ... and genuine food vs. flavored food. & what constitutes a real Taste anyway?
ReplyDeleteAnnnyway: I like the aspect of this that talks about ambiance and dining experience. I remember going into fancier restaurants as a kid and, regardless of whether I genuinely liked my meal or not, I liked it if I wanted to. I'd decided by the time I'd seen the wallpaper... and on top of that, sometimes my ordering decisions were influenced by the design of a place more than what I actually wanted to eat. I ate to match the wallpaper. "I think some salad greens and cherry tomatoes would look nice on these plates..." ...anyway. We let so many things distract us from what eating really is. Why does that happen? How did it happen? It's sensory overload, really... frightening.
The one thing I kept wondering is how many spills happen at this restaurant. The people dining there must have to slow down their meal eating processes considerably. It seems like an amazing amount of trust must go into this dining experience. I wonder how the first costumers reacted when they tried out the restaurant. Alaina, you bring up a really good point that even when we can see what we're eating we don't really know what we're seeing.
ReplyDeleteI think making this connection isn't crude at all. It brings to light a lot of interesting issues especially the high wall of the industrial system of agriculture.
Hannah--ever since the day you had us to that in class blind-tasting exercise, I've been paying a lot more attention to the actual TASTE of whatever I'm eating (sometimes I even close my eyes!). I've discovered that more often than not, caf food doesn't taste like anything. And things like snickers bars--when you close your eyes and shut off the part of your brain that tells you it is supposed to taste good--taste like chewy cardboard! I wonder how much Americans really pay attention to the actual taste of food. I feel like we are tricked into associating food with taste rather than actually tasting it (i.e. McDonalds chicken nuggets are "good" because they signify childhood comfort food). Or sometimes people just eat nasty "diet food"--not for the taste but for results. Maybe we should take a tip from the French by slowing down and indulging in small portions of good tasting food!
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