A shot of lemons from my uncle Boli's farm in the Panamanian highlands
I'm a bit crazy about bread
A brief history of my relationship with yogurt
My thoughts on food as a political act, even an act of rebellion
How I beat big food, yogurt edition
soil is important
I used to have a long commute home on a country road when I worked in rural Texas. One day early on the ride, a woman driving a minivan passed me. I don't drive slow, usually around 75mph on that road, but this lady was really booking it. She must have been going 85 plus. I was concerned, I thought to myself "she probably got called about an emergency at home, has to pick up her kid or something". I saw here as she sped ahead, I could see her in the distance getting smaller and smaller on that straight highway. Eventually I lost sight of her until I arrived at the next small town, where I saw her in a line a a take-away fried chicken spot.
The phrase "I'm only eating" was inspired by the Beatles' song "I'm only sleeping". It is like the band had to defend the innocent act of simply sleeping. At least, that is how I interpreted it. "I'm only eating" is meant to sound trite or defensive in the same kind of way. Like, listen, leave me alone. I'm only eating. However, the humble act of eating is a hugely consequencial, and in modern times, proper eating, of real food, has to be defended. It has to be defended against the interests of large companies that are trying to monopolize and control the production of food. It has to be defended against the modern culture of convenience, which has destroyed many of the traditions people have used for generations to grow, cook, and preserve food.
So why the story about the lady who was desperate for fried chicken? I thought the moment summed up everything wrong with our eating culture; Food she needed so fast, she would drive like a maniac to get it. Food that is the lowest common denominator of what the modern food chain has to offer - bottom of the barrel mass produced chicken meat, fried in non descript oil.