Back to the Land

November 26, 2009, 8:32 pm

Thanksgiving. Since the beginning, Americans have connected the
bounty of the land and the goodness of life to democracy. Washington,
Adams, Jefferson, Madison — farmers all — envisioned an agrarian
society. We have since evolved into a very different kind of society.
There are those of us who are not farmers. Take me, for instance. I live
in a pretty fast city.

With fast talkers and fast walkers. And we have fast food.

And every suburb. And every little bit of this country has very
fast food.

If you eat too much of this food, you become sick and also
fatafat. And no amount of Fatafat pills will help you.

You would need to walk to California to work off the excess. Which
is what I did. In my head.

Flying in the catastrophic, carbon-imprint vehicle, eating the
catastrophic airplane food, I looked at the country. Things look clear —
and naturally agrarian — from this height. I see sheep. I see Little
Bo Peep. But that is not the way it really is. Is there some inherent
value to that way of life that we have lost? Is there some element of
democracy that is diminished? We can’t all be farmers. You would not
want to rely on me for your food. And what about getting the good food?
Do the wealthy have access to the really healthy food while the less
affluent do not? When you look at it that way, it does not feel at all
like a democracy. The fabric of our lives is bound in the food that we
eat and the way we sit down to eat. What is going on now?

Alice Waters has invited me to visit her program called The
Edible Schoolyard, to see the work being done in California.

California. Land of immense and ancient trees covered in lichen.

Land of cows that we eat. Should we? Shouldn’t we?

I go to her restaurant Chez Panisse and sit at a table in the
kitchen.

The food is bought from local organic farmers. Jerome, who is a
chef and artist, tells me about F.T. Marinetti’s “Futurist Cookbook.”
Marinetti came up with conceptual projects for dining. The wearing of
sponge pajamas. The eating of cod liver oil. Hmmm.

The comings and goings of this restaurant kitchen warm my heart.

I visit Bob Cannard’s farm. He does not spray his crops. He
believes there is no such thing as a bad bug. (He loves all bugs!) A
plant will protect itself naturally if it is healthy. I am sure George
Washington would have wanted to talk to him. And Thomas Jefferson as
well. We sit down to lunch.

I look at the carrots in his sink. Bob tells me that these organic
carrots contain more nutrients than carrots not grown organically. So
what do we do about that?

I meet Michael Pollan, the author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” for
a walk. Of course, he finds mushrooms. They have sprung up overnight
and he spots them in the pine needles. His words have become an
international mantra: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” He
interviews Wendell Berry, a writer and farmer who is so connected to the
land that he uses a horse-drawn plow.

I visit the Edible Schoolyard of the Martin Luther King Jr. Middle
School in Berkeley. The children work in a huge vegetable and fruit
garden where chickens wander about happily.

The children sow and reap. They pick beans and kale and pineapple
guavas. They roast peppers.

And then they sit down together and eat. And talk. And
philosophize.

Asked whether they are optimists or pessimists, these boys said
they are “Pessimists, but happy ones!”

And then they fold the tablecloth. And sweep. And do all the
things that families have been doing for hundreds of years. Except many
children often do not sit down to meals with their own families. And
some drink soda for breakfast. So what do we do about that?

I meet Mickey Murch and his family on their farm. Mickey has built
a cockamamie contraption to ride into town where he cooks fresh food.

This is my kind of contraption. Now I am getting flashbacks to the
‘60s. But it is different. It is not dropping out (though that sounds
tempting now and then). It is bringing elemental things to the present
time with commerce and optimism. Can that work? Can giant agribusiness
shrink while true organic farms grow? Can the elitism of a farmers’
market shift so that the organic farms can be subsidized and that prices
are reasonable for all people? That would be a democracy of healthy
eating.<br />

I go to Alice’s house and she cooks an egg. When Alice cooks an
egg it is no ordinary event. She uses a large spoon made by her friend
Angelo Garro, an artist blacksmith.

The egg from the Araucana chicken goes onto the spoon that gets
held in the fire for a few minutes.

And then the egg is put on my toast and eaten with tremendous joy.
Hurrah for the chicken. Hurrah for the egg.

Early one morning I go for a walk. I see a woman who I know is a
bit out of her mind. I like her. she is walking in a kind of trance,
going from tree to tree, stopping at each one to look up at the leaves.
Is she acting this way because she drank soda for breakfast her whole
life?

Once again, I walk across the country. In my head.<br />

I visit another school that will have an Edible Schoolyard. This
will be the first one in New York City. At the Arturo Toscanini
Elementary School on Avenue X in Brooklyn, Celia Kaplinsky, the
captivating principal, tells me what Cicero said: “If you have a garden
and a library, you have everything you need.” There will be a vegetable
and fruit garden where a parking lot is now. The children will work and
cook and take that experience to their families.

And then there will be bounty of a different kind in this country.

The United States of America could be less fastly fastly and more
slowly slowly. We could think small and shift to a new (old) way of
growing food and eating and being. Something that would make the
founders happy.

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farms, food, Thanksgiving

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From 1 to 25 of 288 Comments

1 2 3 ... 12 Next »

1. November 26, 2009 9:39 pm Link

Thanks!
— Eric M.
2. November 27, 2009 12:33 am Link

Its really nice the way you have worded the article. Hope someone gets inspired!!
— Pooja
3. November 27, 2009 12:35 am Link

….and yet again, thank you madame.
— brian wortzel
4. November 27, 2009 12:35 am Link

….a very thoughtful and fun story
— T
5. November 27, 2009 12:35 am Link

This is completely beautiful and great, thank you!
— Faith
6. November 27, 2009 12:35 am Link

This is the best Thanksgiving I have read this year. Thank you!
— topiary
7. November 27, 2009 12:37 am Link

Just LOVE this! We have the ’schoolyard kitchen to home kitchen’ philosophy in Australia, promoted by, among many others, Stephanie Alexander , restauranteur, chef, author, etc. and these basic things like food, shelter, social gatherings with family and friends, are what make our lives meaningful…NOT the latest car, toy, holiday destination..these are shallow.
More SLOWLY SLOWLY….and thanks for another insightful piece Maira.
YOu would like the beautiful, whimsical, insightful, poignant, simple, but always thought provoking work of one of our wonderful cartoonists, Michael Leunig…you may already know his work and the wonderful Mr Curly…
— Gail N
8. November 27, 2009 12:39 am Link

Very beautiful, yet ironic: my life in Japan is dominated by excruciatingly slow food (just ask my wife – she does so enjoy venting frustration), while typically responsibility for children’s character development is assumed to be a school responsibility. Contrast this with the US, with its fast food and relatively hands-off attitude amongst educators regarding morals.

Parents need to set the standards. Culinary heritage is too important to be left exclusively to schools, as helpful as they may be. Whether organic or not, vegetables, prepared with love and skill, will do more for your children than any after-school education.
— Kaonashi
9. November 27, 2009 12:47 am Link

Feel sorry fot you city folk, I may not be able to get high speed internet everywhere.but I know where my cow’s milk is coming from and I know who killed my venison. I used to live in NYC with 9 million others-now I’m glad to be in the boondocks with ,many fewer neighbors. Good luck suckers.
— Nancy couch
10. November 27, 2009 12:50 am Link

This article goes well with a “Food, Inc.” viewing, but not with Thanksgiving dinner.

Thanks, Maira Kalman, for yet another beautiful, informative post.
— Doreen
11. November 27, 2009 12:51 am Link

Oh Maira… THANK YOU… From your mouth to God’s ears!
— Maria Petrova
12. November 27, 2009 12:52 am Link

That sink is a mess! I try not to eat dirt and crud.
I have not had fast food in 3 or 4 years, there is none of it close by.

Nice looking chicken, caught a wild one bare handed once, it went to a farm.

That person walking with the vegetables is a classic! You could sell that one.
— Phil
13. November 27, 2009 12:53 am Link

Amazing, as usual. Thank you for this Thanksgiving treat.
— Kupferschmid
14. November 27, 2009 12:54 am Link

As someone who moved away from the city in the back-to-nature movement of the nineties. Yes, there was one among my community. I would like to remind those who imagine a better future being connected to the land that the problems of life do not go away when you leave the city. My suggestion? Stay in the city. Make your home greener; spend more on real food; enjoy life where you are. That is the real wisdom of those you respect.
— Evan Strube
15. November 27, 2009 1:04 am Link

What a lovely tribute to Thanksgiving and the way we eat now. l
— melissafarfuri
16. November 27, 2009 1:04 am Link

If you have some land, plant it. With this many people we all have to be gardeners and farmers. B Fitzgerald Marrakesh
— B Fitzg
17. November 27, 2009 1:14 am Link

Don’t worry about being fat. A lot of us have or will lose our jobs soon and won’t be able to afford fast, slow or any kind of food in between.

I don’t mean to sound like a hysteric but there is some truth in what I say.
— jk
18. November 27, 2009 1:19 am Link

When it comes to the founding of the country, one can not overlook Hamilton, who had a vastly different philosophy than the founders mentioned.

When it comes to the present day I think the issue is subsidies. If we gave fruits and vegetables anything near what we gave grains and soy, supermarket prices would probably be different.
— Andrew
19. November 27, 2009 1:24 am Link

To begin with: I hope the irony of rattling off against the “elitism” of farmer’s markets after being able to enjoy a cross-country flight in a cabin class where you still get a meal is not lost. Whatever the author had was probably much better than a bag of pretzels, trust me.

There are certainly laudable inspiration and intentions behind this piece but, with all due respect, on the whole it is naive at its best and downright sophomoric at its worst. And I believe the balance tilts towards the latter. I realize presenting a cloying narrative, as a way of building up serious points regarding American diet and agriculture, is what the author’s purposefully wanted. But there’s a line [and I’m not sure it’s a particularly thin one] between a crafty writing style and downright disingenuous oversimplification.

The question of “what do we do about that?” pops up time and again; before any one tries to answer, however, consider a few points. The idea of calling the produce at organic farms “the really healthy stuff” vis-à-vis common produce is misleading, not to mention highly contestable. To tacitly defend [“simple and beautiful”] the idea of organic farming on a large enough scale, enough to, say, feed 300+ million people, [even if it is subsidized, something that might actually distorts prices further] is dangerously imprudent. I am sure Bob Cannard’s Farm produces some wonderful pears and carrots, but there are some nasty bugs out there, and plants will not simply “protect” themselves against many on them if produced on a scale to feed America. In that regard, though it is perfectly acceptable to have a desire for unadorned [or “elemental”] lifestyles, to declare Michael Pollan’s philosophy/marketing line regarding diets as an “international mantra” is almost insulting: food security is still a serious issue in the world and even in the United States. Finally, the idea that our democracy is robustly tied [which was my impression of the author's description] to our eating habits is flimsy at best; not as much, though, as the idea that one could describe either Washington or Jefferson as farmers [they managed a farm, at most; although Adams, on the other hand, very much so]. Just as much as, although, as the claim all four Founding Fathers listed wanted an organic agrarian society.
— Federico
20. November 27, 2009 1:30 am Link

this is so true…..we need to get ourselves away from eating all this processed food,and eat slowly,and naturally………as in the past. Nuke the fast food joints!,LOL
SC
Bklyn NY
— sal coppola
21. November 27, 2009 1:31 am Link

Your work is thoughtful and moving. I am motivated to seek out your children’s books for my grandchildren. Thank you!
— Michael D. Goldman
22. November 27, 2009 1:31 am Link

This is creative genius… this is truth… this is wisdom… and a whole lot of fun and smiles.
— growandmake
23. November 27, 2009 1:32 am Link

So, you want to go back to the day when most of the population were poverty stricken dirt farmers?

Really?

Much of the world’s population still lives like that – and, while they are not “fatafat” (to use your anti fat people slur) they do get to die young of diseases that are very curable in our “too fast society”.

Do you REALLY want to change places with them?
— Gregory A. Butler
24. November 27, 2009 1:34 am Link

So creatively refreshing and inspiring to read. Just like having a good meal that is not only good for the stomach, but the heart and mind as well.
— Ken
25. November 27, 2009 1:37 am Link

Amen!
— Margie Morawiec