The Joy of Eating

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That’s the real reason—not warnings from killjoy nutritionists and activists—that mealtime now feels unsatisfying to so many of us. Though we’re loading up on calories, we are starved for ritual and leisure and pleasure. Thinking too much about what we eat is not what robs us of happy meals, but rather putting too little thought into the important role that food plays in our lives and in the wider world.

Don’t despair (or head to Taco Bell to drown your sorrows in baja sauce), there’s also good news from food’s frontlines. In the same way the natural food business sprouted as an alternative to industrialized agriculture and junk food, a new movement has arisen to put the joy back into eating. Beginning with Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, which, inspired by peasant food traditions around the world, put a premium on fresh, local ingredients, there’s been a growing appreciation for authentic, healthy food. The newfound popularity of regional cuisine, the growth of farmers’ markets and community-supported agriculture (CSAs), and the happy emergence (or in some cases re-emergence) of microbrew beers, artisan cheeses, traditional breads, all-natural meats, and heirloom fruits and vegetables amount to a culinary revolution.

While the quest for tastier food is what drives these trends, they square with most environmental and ethical concerns. Fresh organic produce from local farmers not only improves a meal, it prevents pollution, saves fuel, and boosts your local economy. Dairy and meat from free-ranging animals that have not been force-fed antibiotics are both tastier and healthier. (There is no ethical consensus, however, on using animals for food. Vegetarians and vegans argue that killing animals is cruel no matter how humanely they were raised, while meat eaters note that carnivorism is a fact of nature and that manure from livestock is essential in most methods of organic farming.)

The organic label has now become familiar to us, but Jim Slama, president of Sustain, a Chicago-based environmental advocacy organization, says that’s just the beginning. Slama envisions a time when you will be able to know the story of what happened to food on its way to your plate. Beyond the organic label ensuring that your food was raised without chemicals, irradiation, genetically modified ingredients, or toxic sludge, a "fair trade" label will certify that the people producing it were treated and paid well, and a "regional" label will let you know where it comes from. Sustain has launched an organic local foods initiative in Chicago. This is also the theme of the Organic and Beyond campaign (www.organicandbeyond.org), a coalition of grassroots groups that includes Sustain.

While some folks might view such a project as more reasons to feel guilty over lunch, it actually offers the chance for a richer connection with our food, a way to put meaning back into our meals. Sure, you probably don’t want to know the story behind a serving of factory farm meat: an animal stuffed into a tiny cage, living in its own excrement (which is then flushed into a stream), pumped with antibiotics, slaughtered by a poorly paid worker in a factory notorious for on-the-job injuries, doused in a chemical bath, and then shipped to a faraway supermarket or fast-food joint. Maybe you don’t want to know about all this, but it will affect your health, your environment, and the social fabric of your country.

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