One of the slow food (to use a probably innacurate catch-all term) things that annoys me greatly is the utter conviction that everybody is/should be/would be if they only knew a foodie.

Maybe they did and maybe they didn't, but I don't think its fair to assume that Pa Ingalls and all his wholesome neighbors came in at night and revelled in the simple goodness of the flavors from the earth and the nurturing joy of the sunshine fueling his body and making it strong and held a deep appreciation and reverence for the preparation of said food as an act of love toward the family... I'm betting that most men in history have eagerly eaten what is in front of them until they are full (or too full if they could afford that).

I'm betting most women in history, while taking pride in the ability to make good bread or specialties for holidays, would like to have everybody fed with as little work as possible in the preparation and clean up.

I know for CERTAIN that most people (i.e. the poor) have had very little variety in their diets and food had more to do with subsistence than pleasure.

The exception to this would be when a crop came in or an animal was slaughtered -- THEN they'd revel. It's certainly good for us to eat freshly and seasonally -- I'm all for it. And we could stand to not eat produce grown an ocean voyage away the bulk of the time. But we'll never revel as they did because springs first fruits don't relieve us from five months of brown bread, fatback, and the last of the apples. And in the balance I don't see this as a cultural loss.

There used to be lots of fancy contraptions that you could attach to a coffin so that, if the dead person suddenly woke up alive, they could alert people aboveground before they suffocated.

I'm betting that most men in history have eagerly eaten what is in front of them until they are full (or too full if they could afford that).

See Laura Ingalls Wilder's Farmer Boy for food porn at its finest. The descriptions of the food that Almanzo eats as a young boy on a successful farm in New York State are mouthwateringly detailed.

I caught the Alice Waters thing on 60 Minutes last night and Leslie Stahl was going on and on about how she learned all this in France and all I could think is that if she talked that way to a French person they would laugh in her face.

Also? Way easier to "eat local" in California than, say, in Minnesota, New England, or, you know, places with winter.

Although I think she is pretty condescending in how she speaks, I do agree that there are plenty of people that could eat better, it's just not a priority. They'd rather have a new car with a $400 car payment.

So, even though Elsie nearly died, her father isn't going to "spoil" her by allowing her to disobey, or to try to convince him to change his mind about anything.

"I shall never again bid you do violence to your conscience, my daughter, but to all the commands which I _do_ lay upon you I shall still expect and require the same ready and cheerful obedience that I have heretofore. It is my duty to require, and yours to yield it."

See Laura Ingalls Wilder's Farmer Boy for food porn at its finest. The descriptions of the food that Almanzo eats as a young boy on a successful farm in New York State are mouthwateringly detailed.

I read an interesting commentary years ago that talks about how Almonzo's plenty was so enchanting to Laura having had so little. The variety of food is one of the things the author talked about. Another was that Laura describes the fat drumsticks of a roast goose but the goose described would have had relatively skinny legs.

I read an piece by Laura (I wish I could remember where these things were) where she describes being amused by people going bananas over bread that was basically what she and her family had survived on during the Long Winter when they ground Almonzo's seed wheat in a coffee mill. In the book she even describes the bread favorably as "wholsome and nutty" or something like that... the problem was that they ate it for eight months and broke their hands making it.

Hubby was wondering how much of an organic crop is lost to parasites and such and how it compares to current practices.

all I could think is that if she talked that way to a French person they would laugh in her face

Which "she?"

See Laura Ingalls Wilder's Farmer Boy for food porn at its finest. The descriptions of the food that Almanzo eats as a young boy on a successful farm in New York State are mouthwateringly detailed.

I have to have donuts when I read that book. It is mouthwatering. I always imagined Laura trying to get Almanzo to tell her about his childhood, and all he could remember was the food. There is also an interview that Rose Wilder Lane did with her father that shows what a man of few words he is-- almost every answer he gave, even to questions that asked for descriptions-- was one or two words.

Hubby was wondering how much of an organic crop is lost to parasites and such and how it compares to current practices.

Done correctly, not that much.

Which "she?"

Oh, Alice Waters.

The whole segment just reminded me of a ridiculous conversation my sister had with a friend about the "simple life" movement. This woman was going on and on about getting back to basics (in that "I have a lot of money" way of course) and my sister just finally said "My sister does that. It's called being poor."

Of course, after reading Gourmet Food Nation, I was pre-disposed to dislike Alice Waters. She does not come off well at all in that book.