Hey all,
As you may or may not be able to tell from my various postings, I’m very interested in the current food movement in the US. The trends towards eating locally, sustainably, etc is heading, I believe, in a positive direction that takes us away from processed, quick meals. For the paradigm to truly shift however, we need to retrain the way we think about food. The best way to do that is to start with the younger generations. Alice Waters and others have pioneered the concept of public school gardens and sustainable cafeteria programs. To me it’s a no-brainer. Teach the kids where they’re food comes from, how to cook it, and everyone benefits.
A journalist at The Atlantic disagrees. I found her article way off the mark… as if she missed the point completely (like complaining there were no touchdowns at a baseball game). She seems to insist that manual labor teaches us nothing and a connection to our food, healthy diet, and return to the family table isn’t as valuable as studying towards standardized testing.
Thankfully someone more articulate than I wrote a great response on Civil Eats. Kurt Michael Friese eloquently answers and provides the correct window (I feel) through which to view this argument.
What do you think? Is sustainability a silly trend? Should we keep pumping processed corn products, colas, and fried foods into our ever expanding youth? Where do you line up in this debate? Could something like this program work in Asia?
The Atlantic Article on Alice Waters
Civil Eats’ Response
Paul
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