I grew up knowing where my food came from. My dad grew most of our food, and our neighbors grew the rest. Few things were bought in a store, or imported from other parts of the country. In my life time, I've seen many changes in the way we acquire food for our daily sustenance and the way we eat, all of which worry me and my neighbors.
Many small farmers have been replaced by mega-industrial complexes, on a basis beyond our imagination. Most of our food comes from places we have never visited, handled in ways we do not understand. Only when a big medical scare erupts somewhere, we then question our relationship to our food; we demand regulations after many people die from e-coli or other food born pathogens.
Ann Vileisis has written a seminal historal account of how we have lost our relationship to our food with Kitchen Literacy. In this book, she traces the history of how food production and food consumption has changed. This is not just another set of historical facts packed with footnotes and references.
"Kitchen Literacy goes to the heart of our disconnection from one of the most vital intimate aspects of our lives-how we feed ourselves and our families." Michael Ableman, farmer and author of Fields of Plenty.
Published by Island Press and available at your local book store or library, Kitchen Literacy
is a must read!
