Good news, bad news..

OK, bad news first. It's easy to be discouraged by the number of stories about food systems collapsing due to monoculture cultivation and other destructive agricultural practices. Take Why Bananas are a Parable for Our Times by Johann Hart for example, a feel-good story full of illegal coups, poison and death. Sigh.

I also heard from a friend that bee keepers she knows in B.C. are anticipating a catastrophic collapse of North American colonies in the next two years.

This is the problem with the easy access to news and information we have these days, after 5 stories like Bananas, who wouldn't want to curl up in the corner and give up. I try to remind myself that the internets isn't the only source of information in my life, and the day to day information I receive is pretty good.. Right now, I eat well, and live well. That is a privilege, no doubt. If I value it, then I should fight for it, even if the only way I can do that right now is to pay attention to what I consume. I am encouraged by stories like Will salmon be back in 2009? by Jacoba Charles, and people like Taras Grescoe. Here's what he said in a recent interview about his new book, Bottomfeeder: How to eat ethically in a world of vanishing seafood:

"I was getting sick of food writing and of writing food porn. I thought the form was shot. There are the Anthony Bourdains having these "to die for" meals and having a great time, but no one's really talking about what's at the end of the fork and where it comes from. There's this food-writing convention where you're not supposed to think about the origins of your food and suspend any judgment against people who eat endangered songbirds, or whatever. It's been a real privilege to be able to write articles about this kind of thing. But after a while, you know what? You're contributing to the impoverishment of the world. In a way this [book] is a bit of a "F**k you" to the food-writing world."

Love it.