Food culture

We recently read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, which is a wonderful book especially if you're looking for garden inspiration.  It made me miss our little garden so much!  Barbara Kingsolver has some strong- but justified- opinions about American food culture which were particularly interesting to read while immersed in French food culture.  In Colorado- and much of the US it seems- many people are trying to eat healthier, champion local and organically grown food, and grow our own little patches of food wherever possible.  It's a movement in which people have invested a great deal of time and effort- ourselves included- and one that I think will pay off in the form of more thriving communities and healthier people.     

Reading this book, though, made me think about two particular differences I've noticed between food culture here and the new food movement in America, and ways in which we might take a lesson from the French:

The first being that, this focus of "local" and "sustainable" in America, translates into gardening, homesteading, buying organics- all broad production based activities which are mainly done as a hobby or way of life, not a vocation.  In France the food culture seems to thrive on specialty production as a vocation.  You've got your fromager who only does cheese, your charcuter who only does pig, your boulanger who only does bread, your grocer who only does produce.

Because of this specialization, it seems like many more people are able to make a decent living in food production over here.  Especially because there are both the producers and the preparers for each type of food.  Many of the cited reasons for our new ways of eating food in America are to provide better food and a better living to those who make food.  Is our way of doing that sustainable in the long term if it doesn't create adequate jobs?  Subsidies play a huge role in all of this, and I'll admit that I don't know a whole lot about food subsidies over here. From a little research, I do know that the Common Agricultural Policy commits almost half of the EU's budget to agricultural subsidies and programs ( €49.8 billion in 2006).  The USA spends about $20 billion in agricultural subsidies each year...significantly less.  That probably has a lot to do with making a decent living.  But the EU is also making efforts to give money based on environmental protection and good animal welfare practice, and protecting farmers' way of life.

The second thing I noticed, is that much of our food culture in America is negative.  We are constantly focused on abstaining from something, whether it be hormones in meat, carbohydrates, fast-food or genetically modified vegetables.  The overwhelming feeling about food here in France is very positive.  People are incredibly proud of their food and almost obsessed with finding the the best in quality and taste.  For instance, I was offered a yogurt the other day with the attached claim that "this yogurt won the gold medal for 2011".  It could be that we just don't live in a thriving dairy production area and if I were from Wisconsin that statement would sound normal.  But it struck me as a little amazing that yogurt here is actually ranked and judged.  I couldn't even find on the container what percent milk fat it contained.  Kingsolver mentioned this point in her book and I agree with her- that for our food culture to really evolve into something healthy and lasting, we need to have a more positive view towards it.  Who wants to base their eating habits around what they should avoid, if they could instead base it around what is delicious and special?

Our substitute for a garden...basil seedlings

Both of these observations are inextricably linked: specialization could not exist without consumers who appreciate the quality of good food.  So, could a greater focus on specialization help us be more positive about food in America, and have a healthier, more sustainable food culture?  I hope that the organic-local-sustainable food movement in America is here to stay, but maybe we could also learn from a country that has built a healthy food culture and sustained it for hundreds of years.