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This week's newsletter is the final (official) installment of the cookbook conversation. But it may just be the start of something more bountiful and beautiful.
FOOD IS POWERFUL . . .
I recently attended my cousin's funeral, and the first thing his wife said as I approached her was, 'Myles really did love your cookies'. When they started dating almost 25 years ago, I was deep in my discovery of the power of food and cooking, which I channeled into baking projects that I'd share with friends, family, and strangers all along the neighborhood beach where everyone congregated in the summer months.
That time was marked by experimentation, repetition, sharing, and feedback. Together with a group of willing participants, I honed a practice that still lives in my bones. If I want to make those cookies, I don't reach for a recipe, I go deep inside and my body moves like a magnet toward each ingredient. I roughly measure them out, but rely more on instinct than instruments: does the dough look right? Does it feel right? How is the temperature or humidity of today going to impact things?
There was an intimacy to the act of making those cookies. It held power. Not power over, but power with. People would not only enjoy the fruits of my labor, but they could feel part of something bigger than just baking. They could feed off the way this practice ritualized our time together, and how it fueled me to understand the ways in which we are all connected.
The last time I saw Myles was three years ago, at his younger brother's funeral. I had instinctively made a batch of those cookies because what else do you do in grief but go toward what feels warm, what feels giving, what feels like a means of connection.
I am currently in the throes of reading Jason Hickel's 'Less Is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World'. Toward the beginning of the book he lays out the how capitalism came to emerge - not just the free markets we are told and sold, but the violence around creating conditions where capitalism becomes the default. One such way that this happens is through the enclosure of the commons - the privatization of land and the rich resources that we once all had access to, as a means of forcing labor in exchange for money.
This domino effect had additional impact as the main function of capitalism - 'accumulation of capital' - caused a perpetual growth model that, as Hickel writes, "put peasants in direct competition with one another, with their own kin and neighbors, transforming what had been a system of collective co-operation into one organized around antagonism." In other words, productivity shifted from satisfying needs to maximizing output.
This feels ever more potent today, as we witness the stark contrast between dumpsters filled with expired food behind our abundant grocery stores while a population of 2 million Palestinians is systematically starved, with limited access to aid and the destruction of agricultural land (a common practice in the early capitalist / colonialist times, waging hunger on populations as a means of control).
So today I see a cookbook industry that, in practice, falls into a lot of our (American) cultural patterns: we are so collectively numb that it is a means to distract us into consuming something new, pumping out recipes with ever more ingredients, churning out ideas and images, without the attention and commitment to people integrating these recipes as rituals in their everyday lives.
We know deep down that there is a better way - one that may not be as lucrative, but that will hold far more power with people.
While this last month has been 'all about' cookbooks, we want to contribute to a future that brings the elements of cooking together. One that deepens and broadens our roots, knowing this is the way for a plant to truly flourish and bear fruit. In the words of Desiree Adaway, "Nurturing ourselves and our communities is what will fuel our fight with systems of domination and oppression."
Stay tuned for how that unfolds next week, and beyond.
In community,
Tay + Dor
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tidbits...
resources on anti-racism, environmentalism and food culture AKA stuff we're reading / listening to / watching / noticing / thinking about / captivated by this Tuesday . . .
"Amanda came to understand a greater significance to the meals than what appeared on her plate. They existed because she existed, and because her family existed." - Jordan P. Hickey profiles a baker and educator in Northwest Arkansas whose food is a connection to her family's roots in Gaza.
The Oral History Summer School has become a misnomer in that in addition to the lengthy in-depth summer programs they offer a slew of one-off online sessions throughout the year. The upcoming Shaking the Family Tree feels like it holds the capacity for healing that seems ripe for these times.
"I love commerce for this reason — it binds people who would otherwise have no connection to one another in a mutually beneficial exchange." - Swati Singh on "rage-launching" Los Compas Coffee, and more in the latest issue of The Mustard Sandwich.
One more shout out for Jason Hickel's work. We're grateful for the ways he concisely and honestly lays out the issues ahead of us - but also provides sound solutions for how we can collectively shift toward a better and brighter future for all. If audio is more your speed you can hear a general breakdown of the book in Part 1 and Part 2 podcast episodes.
Susan Cain's recent newsletter asserted, "everyone wants a deeper conversation, you just need to give them permission." What do you think, introverts? Is it true, false, or too good to be true? Read the whole newsletter for Cain's tips on how to test her beautiful theory.
Speaking of connection and relationship building, Desiree Adaway has made the Friendship & Freedom workshop FREE. Register here to participate on Tuesday, March 13, from 2 to 4pm eastern time.
View and share this free guide to How to Write a More Equitable Job Post, and stay tuned for new resources to deepen this work.
"Plenty has been written about the economic impact of the pandemic on the food industry, but not enough about its lingering effects on the bodies of people whose mission is to nourish us." Read the latest GFJ Story on the creator behind Anjali's Cup, with words by Nicole J. Caruth and photos by Christine Han.
got a tidbit? drop it here for us and we'll share it in next week's newsletter.
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