There's a guest column in the Tribune today.
That’s a lot of lettuce in the House, by Sylvia Griggs.
I always believed the Democratic Party was progressive, but some recent news has me puzzled. Voters put a woman in charge of the House, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and she heads to the kitchen — the so-called traditional environment for a woman. Mother Pelosi seems to be saying, I know what’s good for you, and you’re damn well going to like it!
As part of her “Green the Capitol” Initiative, the House is getting a kitchen and food service makeover.
The columnist's argument goes something like this: It isn't progressive to eat food with names the columnist can't pronounce, especially if these names have "international" origins; presumably, politicians should eat peanut butter 'n' nanner sandwiches instead, just like the all-American, dead Elvis; and if there are any concepts in cooking and cuisine to which the columnist hasn't yet been exposed -- sustainable fishing, for instance -- these are to be derided as something unfamiliar to her, and thus worthy of trashing.
Imagine how much more edifying the piece would have been had we been informed as to what these names and concepts mean, and how they may or may not be important in the larger scheme of things.
What am I missing? How does one's own ignorance about a topic qualify as knee-slapping humor?
Given that one of the Tribune's other guest columnists apparently fancies herself as some bizarre sort of Ann Coulter clone, reading the local newspaper of late is reminiscent of Pink Floyd's magnum opus, The Wall.
Hello, hello, hello ...
Is there anybody in there?
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12 comments:
An apology to readers: More pseudo-intellectual meandering has managed to slip past the internal censors. We propose to address the problem by building a damned big fence somewhere.
I have to say that the column is a bit odd--did the author really intend to come off sounding as if she's anti-environmentally conscious?
kinda weird this day and age making fun of respect for the environment. I'm glad this columnists consciousness was raised by the capital food service upgrade though. I'm thinking of booking safaris to Whole foods in L-ville for denizens of NA who haven't yet experienced real food. I say safari, cause i think it's going to be frightening for people the first time they see real food.
Then again, Gina, you could divert to Rainbow Blossom...an independent purveyor.
Sunday afternoon would be a good time. 3 p.m. That's when Stacy Mitchell of the New Rules Project will headline a panel discussion on the benefits of shopping local first - and the detriments of exporting dollars to Wall Street, Shanghai...or Bentonville, Ark.
Ann and I will be privileged to get a preview on Saturday along with more than 500 booksellers from around the country. Mitchell will join Bill McKibben and Michael Shuman to discuss the same issues at lunch in Louisville.
I thought that she made several points.
If you put women in charge they will be concerned about the environment and desire people to eat more healthy foods. Heaven forbid this.
She makes a point to state that the cuisine is elaborate and heavily French, but I was trying to figure out from her ‘menu’ which item was French. Grilled focaccia? Smoked salmon can be French, I guess, but it seems fairly universal. And then of course I could mention ‘lox’ but that might be using another language.
Okay, using original names for will confuse the members of Congress. I think that she’s making a statement that Congressfolk are not smart enough to use words like antipasti.
Then we have the complex recycling stations. Again, Congressfolks are not smart enough to use these. That seems to be her point.
Fair trade coffee. We’ve been buying and using that at St. Marks. I hadn’t realized how awful we are.
I think that the ultimate theme of her piece is this. Ignorance IS bliss and we want to happy!
"Comfortably Dumb" may sound like a Weird Al song parody that might also describe the writer's state, but the song by Naked Aggression is a tad starker than Al. It contains the line, "Ignorance is a closed mind, the best weapon big business can find."
On second thought, I think this article was an attempt at humor that went horribly awry. It was just a bad idea--kind of like writing an article about the wacky antics of the KKK.
But on the topic of food/environment: I heard a statistic at a meeting this week, that 60% of New Albany's inner city is rental property. Also, Bob Lane of the NA Housing Authority says that they are at 99% occupancy, with 49% of their residents under age 19, and the majority of the residents are the working poor--people in low paying jobs like fast food.
They can't afford jaunts to Whole Foods--they can afford white bread, bologna and soda pop. Those are the realities, so how do we try to begin to change that?
That's what I like to see the Tribune devote some column inches too--not moms writing about their kid's food allergies, or people trying to poke fun at food they're not familiar with. I want to hear from/about people who are trying to make a difference in New Albany and how they're doing it.
Humor gone awry? Probably right, and your digression is right on target.
Next thing we know, someone's going to be insisting that there's a high cost to low price.
I'm very interested in a locally focused, organic if possible food co/op. I know little about it other than I've been to them in other cities and found them fantastic.
Any discussion of food and other regularly used items inevitably leads back to a question central to Michael Shuman's work: What products are consistently and heavily relied upon in the community but aren't produced locally?
It can be as simple as toilet paper. It's counterintuitive to think of it as an imported item but the fact of the matter is that we all use it (meaning that there's a sustainable market for it) and none of us produce it. Our personal hygiene is left to the mercy of "foreign" interests while we struggle to provide long-term employment.
It's not high tech and sexy. It's practical and sensible. We could be much more self-sufficient than we are.
Well, there is always the cob left after the corn is grown for ethanol! (confirmed city slickers will not understand)
The cliche "rougher than a cob" is unfortunately hard won intelligence.
One of the most striking cultural anomalies that struck me when we moved here two years ago was how malnourished the population looked and how verdant the countryside. Does it seem obvious to anyone else that there is so much obesity here and all the food is fake corn derived processed food? Yeah, real food costs alot more than fake food here, no doubt. But given the potential in the countryside, that could be changed. Maybe when corn is too valuable to use for food we'll be forced to return to eating real food?
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