Food Is Everything
Or is it? Do we sometimes need to adjust our lens?
Hi! We actually do not live on Substack anymore, but will occasionally be posting here to remind you to visit us at our new home. You can sign up for a membership or a free subscription, here.
If you subscribe to the Bittman Project, my guess is that you do so, at least in part, because you’re interested in what I have to say. And the following is something I just have to say, even though it’s hardly food-related. So it might bother you; on the other hand, you might love it. And it’s a free post, so I hope you’ll share it widely.
I, and all of us here, would love to hear what you think, regardless, and to hear what you’re doing in the face of this national crisis. Tell us in the comments or email us: members@bittmanproject.com. – Mark
I’ve read … I don’t know, 1000? … anyway, lots of pieces about the takeover of Our Country (as he would say) by Trump and his cronies. I’m as shocked and horrified as I’d guess most of you are. And there’s one indication here, to me, that from the vantage point of existential threats, this is worse, or at least more immediate, than anything I’ve seen in my lifetime which, old as I am, still began after World War 2. (The climate crisis might be “worse” in the long run—more people will die—but more damage will be done by Trump this year, including many deaths; in addition, he’ll make the climate crisis worse.)
That indication is this: I’ve said many times—in fact I’ve made a habit of saying—“You can view just about anything through the lens of food, and explain it.” Colonialism; economic and racial and environmental injustice; public health of course; capitalism, even … you can even link housing issues to food. Fairness issues of all types.
What’s happening right now in America and as a consequence throughout the world … is so big that it is hard for me to focus on food issues in the way that I normally do.
Of course you cannot really explain everything through the lens of food; that’s an exaggeration, and an intentional one. It is undeniably true that many aspects of our food system (such as it is) are in danger: SNAP and school lunches are threatened; WIC is going to be in trouble somewhere down the line; almost all of the (meaningful if relatively tiny) crumbs our friends in progressive agriculture have wrangled from the USDA are being taken away now; rights for farmworkers and tipped workers are undoubtedly on hold (and, somehow, even if taxes on tips are forgiven, they will manage to make things worse for tipped workers); food prices are going up; industrial agriculture will become stronger than ever, regardless of the lip service RFK Jr. gives to fighting chronic disease (you think otherwise? I might take that bet!); people throughout the world will literally die of starvation without the help of USAID; and on and on.
Despite all of that, though, this thing, what’s happening right now in America and as a consequence throughout the world … is so big that it is hard for me to focus on food issues in the way that I normally do.
My firm belief is that we all must do something in order to try to remedy things and move forward, for two reasons.
I’m still spending half or more of my working time on the Bittman Project and Community Kitchen, both of which I’m proud of. But I’m also spending a great deal of my ‘non-working’ time doing what isn’t technically doomscrolling (because I only look at social media sporadically) but hopping between the Times (don’t get me started), The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Politico, The Washington Spectator (worth looking at if you haven’t), and The Hill – is that enough? Read the interesting/scary/irresistible stories on each of those sites every day, or nearly so, and you wind up spending your late afternoons/early evenings/late nights (in my case at least) in a state of terror.
Yet my firm belief is that we all must do something in order to try to remedy things and move forward, for two reasons. One, it’s the right thing to do – inaction could literally lead to fascism – and two, I’m totally convinced that our mental health depends on not just readying and fretting, but doing something to try to make a difference. The more of us who are actively engaged, the more actively engaged will our friends and families be – people do what those close to them do.
From The Guardian: “Zoe Williams argues that fascism’s gradual arrival induces a sense of paralysis (The new world order is exactly what it looks like. Are we too frozen with fear to name it?, 17 February). Her words immediately brought to mind the “smoky room experiment”.
Let’s counter the bystander effect and be active citizens.
In this study, when a person is alone in a room that begins to fill with smoke, three-quarters raise the alarm within minutes. Yet, when surrounded by others who remain passive, only 10% take action. This is the “bystander effect”, identified by Latané and Darley in the 1970s, which reveals how a silent, unresponsive crowd can stifle our instincts – even when our own lives are at stake.”
Let’s counter the bystander effect and be active citizens. Here, Bob Reich – former Secretary of Labor and all-around person you want to listen to – outlines general steps anyone can take to make a difference. Of course, one of my added priorities would be to support food and farmworkers, as well as organizations that are getting good food to people who need it (especially, in these terrifying times for them, to immigrants). But you make your own decisions. In addition to my normal work, for example, I’m beginning to devote time to making sure that my rubber-stamp Trump Congressman (Mike Lawler) is defeated in November 2026, twenty long months from now.
Thank you for writing this, Mr. Bittman