Maybe it’s the South Dakota ranch girl in me or my years as an avid 4-H member, but the origins of our food sources have always interested me. Regardless of where we live, I think it is important that we are aware of where our food is coming from and that we instill that knowledge in our children. It was only natural, then, that Bread, Wine, Chocolate: The Slow Loss of Foods We Love by Simran Sethi caught my eye at the local library.
Before you get depressed just looking at the cover, Sethi is not talking about the real, complete loss of these foods, but rather the loss of diversity in our cultivating and marketing of foods like coffee, chocolate, and wine. Worldwide, when huge corporations are taking over, we lose that diversity, not to mention we put the livelihoods of many at risk.
Sethi encourages us to be aware of where our food is coming from, and be willing to, at times, spend a little more to sustain small food producers. She describes sitting down to an elegant meal and truly thinking of all the people involved in bringing that dinner to her plate.
Sethi also speaks to the self-described foodie in me. I love trying new foods and have yet to find one I would shy away from. I eat Rocky Mountain oysters straight off the branding fire.
Sethi writes: “Great tastes are everywhere. Sometimes they’re fancy, but most of the time they are not. Finding those tastes requires less of an open wallet and more of an open mind and heart.”
Sethi finishes the book with a chapter on octopus and its place as one of the most memorable meals in her life. She writes: “To most a solo meal isn’t a courageous act, but to me, it was because it revealed my vulnerability around being alone and, in being by myself, feeling like I was settling. Now I know I’m not I was not actually alone. I was with myself, having one of the very best meals I have ever tasted, surrounded by people celebrating the same.”
Bread, Wine, Chocolate provides an interesting and educational look at food. It explores the science of our food sources as well as the economic impact our decisions have. Above all, it encourages us to be aware as we purchase and enjoy the foods we love.
A HOUSE WITH CHARACTER 