While I don’t often write about it, I’ve always been interested in the hows and whys of the food that arrives at my table.  My grandfather was a stockyard worker, and it was early in my life that I followed a pig from the stockyard to the back of his truck to the slaughterhouse to the butchering table to my dinner plate. It was a good lesson in the costs, choices, and implications of what I ate then, and has remained something of a framework in my choices about what I eat now. I’ve never been particularly evangelical about my food choices, and my interest in the ethics of food production and consumption have generally been limited to wanting to ensure that my own choices were consistent with my values. But the recent reemergence of food supply as a political issue (if you’re in the US or Europe, you might not have noticed it, but it’s definitely becoming a problem) has heightened my interest in food policy and supply. I’ve encountered some difficulty in getting useful and interesting analysis, though. This subject area tends to attract a lot of what I call “true believer” authors who are steadfastly dedicated to their cause (organic farming, local sourcing, etc.) to the exclusion of all other perspectives. While these folks occasionally produce an interesting read, I don’t come away feeling like I’ve got any better understanding of the bigger issues.
Enter Ethicurean. I only recently discovered it when a regular read linked this summary of Obama’s various food policy-related positions. I found it well written, and as I poked around the site for a bit more, I found a good mix of big picture policy pieces and this-cheese-shop-is-great bits. Despite multiple authors, it’s got a consistently informed tone that I quite appreciate. Maybe you will, too. Give it a read.
Plin
I’m a big fan of Ethicurean–it’s one of my favorite discoveries from my dissertation research. I have a lot of food politics-related links as a result, but as you point out, Ethicurean strikes a nice balance. Sometimes I just want to revel in thoughts of good cheese, you know?
I also cannot abide Michael Pollan, so Ethicurean makes me happy because it’s broad enough that it doesn’t end up being an altar dedicated to his worship. Lots of sites about food politics and ethics suffer from severe Pollanitis.
Peej
Heh, I was just coming to say I hope Plin comments, because I remember her very interesting book recommendations when there was a discussion on food and its politics a few years ago. (I *think* you were the one who recommended Agrarian Dreams and Food Politics, Plin? Or am I remembering incorrectly?)
Plin
Yep, those are two of my very favorites!
MB
So is the problem with Pollan the work itself, or the altar that fans build to it?
(As noted above, I’ve never managed to read enough to really get the lay of the land in that subject area, so it’s a genuine question.)
jen
Very cool-looking site. Thanks for the tip.
Bonnie Powell
Thanks for the link! To be honest we started the Ethicurean because we were inspired by Pollan (I’ve been a fan since Botany of Desire), but as you say, it has involved to a mix of policy and first-person pieces. I’m really proud that as many people want to guest-post and eventually end up joining “the team” as have done over the past 2 years. We love new contributors, so if you have ideas you’d like to write about food politics, shoot’em over.
-Bonnie
Editor, Ethicurean.com
Plin
My problem with Pollan is the intrinsic elitism of his position: both his explanations of the current food problems and his proposed “solutions” completely fail to take into account the enormous class disparities in food availability, distribution, and access to usable nutrition in this country. He writes as though the entire US consists of New York Times readers and Stuppies (Starbucks yuppies), and as though the personal eating decisions of those people are going to be enough to cause real systemic change.
He does have some useful things to say to those of us who do fall into those categories, but he fails to address what I see as the massive elephant in the room. I don’t understand why he has such a cultish following when his work doesn’t have anywhere near the sensitivity and nuance of, say, Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation. (Actually, I suspect the likelihood of cult formation is in direct inverse proportion to the complexity and nuance of a writer’s message, so I shouldn’t be surprised.)
Okay, shutting up now. See what happens when you get me started?
MB
I’m glad to hear such a high opinion of Fast Food Nation from someone who (presumably :)) knows her stuff. I was blown away when I first read it, and think of it as a model for the genre (insomuch as there is a genre for socially conscious investigative books that wait to lay all sides of an argument before an intelligent audience).
But just to get rid of nuance, for a minute? I think that the people who made FFN the movie should be beaten to death with copies of the book. What an abomination.
Plin
Oh, the movie was total crap. I was appalled and embarrassed by it. In fact, I prefer to pretend it never existed.
FFN is absolutely the gold standard, I agree. What made it so wonderful was that it was a truly investigative piece, one that took pains to show how deeply fast food is embedded in every area of our society, including in ways that benefit segments who might otherwise have few opportunities. There are no easy ways out of a complex situation that has so many political, economic, and cultural dimensions.
Palin is more of the “four legs good, two legs bad” style of journalism.
(“Presumably”?! Sniff. Really, now, I thought we had moved past all that…)
MB
Whatever. If you had made some pronouncement about Buffy, well, I’d just take it as a given. But I have to admit that I was unaware of the food policy expertise.
(Stirrups, on the other hand . . .)
Plin
You know, I almost made an oblique reference to the stirrups, but then I thought, a) best not to go there, and b) maybe he’s forgotten by now. I mean, that was, what? Five, six years ago? (!) Surely he has more important things to store in that available memory space.
Apparently not. However, a) remains valid.
As for the other, well, apparently I’ve got all kinds of secret expertise these days. It’s why I make people call me “doctor.”
MB
I know. I’m even a little ashamed, myself.
Well, we’ve all got to make a living.
Plin
The fact that you’re a little ashamed means there’s still hope for you.
(If this were LiveJournal, I’d have my little Obama “hope” icon here as encouragement.)