A fax came into the newsroom the other day. Yes, an honest to gosh fax. A rare occurrence, indeed. The heading caught my eye: “The ethics of eating: what the freegan is this?”
The body of the fax is promoting a book, Philosophy Comes to Dinner, which examines our complex relationship with food.
Food didn’t used to be such a consuming topic. A couple generations ago, prairie dwellers grew most of their own food and traded or sold any excess for things they weren’t able to grow themselves.
I remember as a small child waiting in the car while our mother went into the Co-op grocery store in Maple Creek to sell eggs. As a treat for us being so well behaved while she was gone, she would buy a package of those chocolate covered marshmallow cookies with a drop of jam in the bottom. We always assumed that’s what the store made out of the eggs.
In that era and those that came before, food wasn’t an issue of philosophy, it was about survival.
In today’s complex world we are bombarded with a host of extremes when it comes to food — organic versus conventional, free trade versus fair trade, local versus global food, vegan versus “conscientious carnivore.” The choices we are being exhorted to make are endless.
And then there is the endless parade of food this is just plain bad for us. Not too long ago a study caused some hysteria across the media spectrum when it claimed any kind of processed meat was as bad for us as asbestos.
It doesn’t appear those dangerous foods have been pulled off the shelves, nor have any of the other “killer” items we’ve been warned away from.
What about the latest trend in the “miracle” food? I’ve lost track of the score on that front, as well. There’s just too much conflicting information to properly sort it all out.
Canada’s sinking loonie might be a solution to the whole issue, philosophy aside. At 70 cents against the mighty U.S. dollar, the paltry loonie is single-handedly putting an end to the endless debates. Because, by necessity, a large amount of the fresh produce we put on our plates is imported, it is simply becoming too expensive to purchase.
A serving of $6-a-head cauliflower anyone?
