Some thoughts on food...and local produce.

Living in a small town in Catalonia for the past year has taught me a lot of things...

One of those things being the importance of buying locally produced goods as well as ethical consumption.  The following is by no means an exhaustive discussion of this subject, but more a personal reflection as this topic can be discussed forever and a day. I will however mention a few articles, videos, books at the end of this post if you would like to explore the subject further.

I started my journey into learning about ethical alternatives to consumption, especially when it came to food, whilst I was in a lecture on the topic of Anthropology of Food at SOAS and I remember something that has stayed with me in particular.

http://www.maria-brazil.org/

It was regarding a banana.

Yes, a banana, one of the most potassium rich fruits in the world that most athletes devour to give them a burst of energy.

A perfect morning snack.

Also the subject of two characters of a children's favourite TV show. See: 'Bananas in Pyjamas'.

Now, we all know that a banana doesn't magically appear on the supermarket shelf.
A banana in fact has a story - and all food that we eat does.

Note: Unfortunately many children probably do think that banana's grow on supermarket shelves or may not even know WHAT a banana is - no fault of their own... See 'Potato or Tomato': Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution).

The way human beings interact with food has changed drastically. Not only are we not teaching future generations WHERE fruit and vegetables come from, WHERE their steak comes from (and with animals it is a different story. See: my article 'Meet your Meat') but we are not teaching them  HOW they are produced, WHY we buy food in supermarkets and WHAT they are good for.

I mean the amount of problems that exist regarding food nowadays is what I would probably call INSANE. A system of instant gratification and over consumption has left us with problems ranging from global warming, destruction of nature and our natural interaction with plant/animal life, GMO crops, unfair trade regulations, paying more for ORGANIC food that isn't ridden with toxic pesticides etc. etc. etc.

Where did all go wrong? And when did we forget that a plain old banana has a long, at times, painful story...in order to reach our mouths?

Where was it planted? By who? Which country? Who was the middle-man that allowed it to be shipped across the globe? Then the other who decided which supermarket chain it would go to? What mark-up price will it be sold at? Is the farmer who planted this banana being treated fairly?

The questions are endless. So, in fact, when we bite into that banana, we are biting into a lot more than we realise....until we start realising that we ourselves are part of a long long chain in this system of global trade and consumption. We can either choose to ignore this fact or we can choose to face it and realise the consequences of our actions and buying habits.

I think it's important to realise our own place in global market and trade system; and make ourselves aware of the many initiatives currently across the globe trying to raise light to issues that has been kept in the dark. It's a complicated topic and there are many sides to it...

Luckily enough for me there is a fresh fruit/vegetable/cheese/fish market everyday in this town of 22,000 and that allows one easier access the food produced in the area. But not only is it about going to the fresh food markets but also buying from smaller shops scattered around that help support the local economy (especially in times of crises such as this). And these CAN be found in every city (most of the global human population, for the first time in history are living in cities).

I think it's important to realise we can all do our bit. Often people think that because they cannot be 100% ethical as EVERYTHING we buy has a story (from the clothes we wear, to the toothpaste we use, to the phone we text on) then there is no point.

www.CartoonStock.com

I disagree....if we start learning about ourselves and the things we CAN do, then it is just a matter of taking baby steps and deciding WHAT is really important to us, others and the world. We cannot deny that we are indeed a global world much more connected than ever before. The more we deny this fact, the more we are shying away from a reality, of which, if a blind eye is turned, I fear will tear us away from our own humanity. We are after all 'what we eat'...

 The consumption of a banana suddenly becomes much much more.


THINGS TO LOOK AT:

Bananas: A 2009 Swedish documentary directed by Fredrik Gertten about a conflict between the Dole Food Company and banana plantation workers in Nicaragua over alleged cases of sterility caused by the pesticide DBCP.
Top 10 Genetically modified crops
Local produce and healthy eating
Fair Trade website

Meet your Meat

So, I'm writing today about Eating Meat.

I'm sure we've all been there before - having endless conversations about whether "it's" right or wrong, making fun of the Vegan or Vegetarian at the table, seen people or even been one of the people that makes an uncooked chicken walk around and say "Don't Eat Me!" by sticking our hands up them...

But my reason for writing today is not to question whether eating meat is right or wrong or even make a claim saying we should become Vegetarian or Vegan...it is more to shed to light some of the facts and ideas that have come my way, especially over the last few months, and make everyone think about it a little bit more...the way that I have started to, not just about eating meat, but about food in general and what we put into our own bodies to use as energy.

So, I bought Jonathan Saffran Foer's book Eating Animals by recommendation of a friend who told me that she became vegetarian after reading it. I was interested - after all, I had always questioned WHY I didn't question my own choice of eating meat. I thought perhaps this book would answer some questions.

I left it on my shelf for almost a year - perhaps I was scared of finding out the truth. Perhaps I wasn't ready to let go of certain myths that I held about eating meat. After all, as Foer points out - eating is a shared story. And a lot of us don't want to let go of that shared story. I certainly feel I don't want to - after all, there are histories and traditions behind the food we eat, we share food with the people we love. But somehow I realised that I had to learn more about what I was eating.

So I decided I would read the book. And talk to some friends who were Vegan and Vegetarian ( I realised I had many - coincidence?) Perhaps I will talk about the book in another review. For now all I want to do is recommend it to those who are perhaps just that little bit interested in the way that I was - those who, perhaps, want to know the truth.

And I will also share another video that I watched recently on the same topic which talks about our disconnection with eating meat, "Carnism", as Melanie Joy puts it. She goes on to say that "dominant, violent ideologies use a set of social and psychological defence mechanisms to enable human people to participate in inhumane practices without fully realizing what they're doing", and I feel that I can't disagree with that at all. The video, "The Psychology of Eating Meat" is here.

In other words, this blog post has come out of a somewhat passionate insight into the importance of realising that we have a CHOICE with what we do and that we can question the 'inquestionable'that has become a norm.

I am not saying that I am now a vegetarian...all I am saying is now I KNOW that I have a choice in the matter, because I am aware. And in order to be aware I had to listen to people. And what I'm saying is that there are people and ideas worth listening to. As compassionate and empathetic beings we have to realise the level of cruelty and crime that is being committed across the globe.

If you do want to know....

Currently I am hardly eating hardly any meat and focusing my diet on eating fish that I have known has been 'ethically fished' but that's another issue we will get into another day. For now I just want to say I'm thankful for anyone who's taken the time to talk to me about these issues...the conversations have been eye opening. And I hope that my share opens some more eyes about our own choices...

Cadaqués

Where the famous Surrealist painter Salvador Dali used to live. This place really has a magical feel about it. We arrived at nighttime, four friends and a pink Volkswagen Van, and went to dine in a small, comfy restaurant called Tao (run by four old women). I’d prefer to call this restaurant just a ‘home’ really because it is not a traditional restaurant. You enter through a wooden door which is situated on a mountainous side street. There are perhaps two low tables and the ‘living room’ is basically the ‘dining room’. When you go out back you see a large garden with lemon and orange trees around. It’s quite beautiful.

In the morning we went for a walk and you really do understand where Dali got some of his inspiration from. His house is situated right by the most serene part of the beach and little islands are dotted around the bay.

The sky of the Costa Brava is also something else. If you take a look at a lot of Dali’s paintings you may see a ‘Vanilla Sky’ – skies with different shaped clouds, colours and amazing sunsets. This is pretty much true. Everyday there is a burst of character in the sky and it is truly beautiful. Would recommend going to Cadaeques to visit Dali’s house as well as Tao for a beautiful home made vegertarian meal.

Info about Costa Brava
Info about Salvador Dali's house