Food, politics, and food politics
I like food.
But I dislike politics.
So today I want to explore how these two statements are connected.
Definitions, personally
I find writing down an explicit definition can be quite useful to clarify what I mean for myself and even more useful to make sure we’re on the same page.
Of course any definition may be lacking or imprecise, but that’s not the point. I’m not even trying to be exhaustive. Any little bit helps, though.
So let’s begin with a few of simple questions (with possibly complex answers).
What is food?
Any external substance that can nourish me through the act of eating it.
Which begs the question: what does me mean in this context?
I’ll dodge the dreaded existential question “who am I?” and just say that I think I’m more than my body, so food should nourish more than only that.
What is politics?
When I say I dislike politics, what I really mean is that I abhor the political system and pantomime – formalities, technicalities, power games and so on.
The definition I prefer is closer to the one of the ancient Greeks: politics has to do with anything that may concern and affect all the members of a society.
Although I may like that definition better, I still don’t like prescriptions. And the goal of politics is basically to prescribe how people should behave.
What is food politics?
Well, I don’t know what it actually entails: I suppose national policies, laws, and all that jazz. But I don’t care. These are personal definitions.
To me, food politics is simply what we – as human beings – should be eating.
Which begs even more questions, such as: what does human beings mean? Why should we be eating this or that? Does it even matter? Yeah, not gonna answer.
Food and politics
There’s so much to say about food – and even more about politics.
Food science is often ambiguous and even inconsistent. Doctors have no definite answers, let alone correct ones. Evidence is scarce, anecdotes are plentiful.
Most people are pretty eager to tell other people what they should eat (or do, in general). Everyone and their mother has an opinion about what’s best for you.
I, for one, have no interest in convincing anyone. But I truly care about my own relationship with food – which is mostly (and deeply) personal.
Personal and political
Some activists would have it that the personal is political. I’ll let them have it. To some extent, I even agree. But I agree even more with Oscar Wilde:
People sometimes inquire what form of government is most suitable for an artist to live under. To this question there is only one answer. The form of government that is most suitable to the artist is no government at all.
(From The Soul of Man Under Socialism, first published in 1891.)
I’d like to go one step further and argue that we’re all artists. At least to some extent. At least potentially. But that’s another topic for another day.
I’ll venture yet another step further and say that no government at all is the ideal form of government, period. But the world we live in is far from ideal.
In our physical, actual, imperfect world… governments have their place. Most people need to be told what to do. And some even like it! Crazy, right?
Facts and values
Long story short, there are all kind of (twisted) incentives on what narratives to push on people. But then there are facts. And there are values.
I was tempted to say that facts are simple. But they’re not.
Some facts are straightforward. Pesticides are somewhat toxic. Local food is generally more sustainable. Vegan food usually involve less harm to animals.
But facts are not always self-evident. And even when they are, they may depend on other facts and circumstances that can be extremely complex and nuanced.
We know very little, and the little we think we know may as well be just plain wrong. It happened many times before, and it’s still often happening now.
Do you really need to eat three times a day? How much food does you body actually need? Why should breakfast be any different than dinner or lunch?
Values are even more interesting.
There are personal values and collective values. There is what we say we value and what we actually value. And then there’s living up to our values.
Even when we truly value something, at times we may need or want something else. Life can be messy, and values can be conflicting. Be kind to yourself.
We may have blind spots. We may not be willing to give up the convenient stories we tell ourselves. But fully embracing our values is our choice.
Should animals have rights? Do plants suffer? Is prana a thing?
If our values lead us to a happier life, that’s a fact. Maybe people will notice we’re better off. And they’ll want to be better off, too. They’ll show interest.
That’s where change may happen. But it has to start with ourselves.
Lead by example
Or should I say… eat by example!
Figuring out our values can be hard, but at least it only depends on ourselves. Aligning our actions to our values is heavily influenced by our environment.
As it turns out, in the tyranny of the majority each of us must bear the consequences of what most people eat (and do, in general).
So… after all, it seems to me that the political is personal.
I wouldn’t want junk food, alcohol, and pesticides to be normalized. I’d love to be surrounded with healthy, cruelty-free, sustainable food instead.
But I don’t think that screaming at each other in a desperate attempt to impose our own world view on everyone else should even be considered as a solution.
Yet, that’s mostly what we do. Wouldn’t it be better to redirect our energy to what we can actually change and focus on our circle of control first?
I somewhat touched on this in The Lesser Evil:
I strongly oppose any kind of war, dictatorship, censorship, surveillance, and similar suppressions of personal freedom. It deeply upsets me to look at all the needless suffering that is going on right now in the world, for absolutely no good reason. It makes me sick. But what can I do about it?
I wish I had a magic wand that could remove greed and hatred from people’s hearts, putting in kindness and compassion instead. I wish!
With a massive amount of dedication, activism can achieve outstanding results on a specific issue (think Gandhi). But anything we may do individually will never be enough to fix everything, for all the shit that goes on anywhere anytime.
We can only lead by example, and that’s what I strive for.
I’m sorry if the last few paragraphs made you feel worried or sad. I didn’t mean to. On the contrary, I want to stress that personal wellbeing is our own choice.
More food, less politics
All in all, food politics is just politics.
In most situations, I actively steer clear of the subject. Conversations about it are often sterile and amount to boring and unproductive small talks.
But if instead we shift the focus on our inner worlds, then we could explore the cultural and the emotional aspects of food. Now that would be interesting to me.
In the past I wrote a half-baked post on how I eat, then 42% vegan, and there would still be a lot more to unpack.
One thing I noticed, though, is that I rarely (if ever) talk about the food itself. Maybe because I find it a bit dull compared to the rest? I don’t know.
Anyhow, I’ll briefly go over it. I may expand on this if anyone is interested.
I do me
Sometimes people genuinely want to know what I eat. The answer is simple: whole grains, legumes, fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts, seeds. There’s plenty.
I mostly cooked for myself. I don’t care how my food looks: if I think it’s good for me, I’ll have it with gusto. No portion control: I eat until I’m satisfied.
I try buying local as much as I can, supporting people I know, getting quality over quantity… even if I have to pay a bit more for that.
In supermarkets I read the ingredient list and go for the least processed food possible – e.g. 100% peanut butter, 100% unhulled sesame seed tahini, etc.
I try to avoid junk food as much as possible. But I’m not a monk. I think that putting intention, attention, and a solid effort is good enough.
Or, as Oscar Wilde would put it:
People sometimes inquire what kind of junk food is most suitable for an artist to eat. To this question there is only one answer. The kind of junk food that is most suitable to the artist is no junk food at all.
You do you
As I have already mentioned, I don’t want to persuade you or anyone else to change their eating habits and lifestyle.
Incidentally, I have a nice personal anecdote of a time this happened naturally. But I’ll save that for another time. This article is quite long already.
If anything, I’d like to invite you to ask yourself some questions and find your own answers. You are the expert of yourself. You have the compass.
As always, if you still want to ask me any questions, I’ll be happy to chat!
I meant to end right here, but then I serendipitously stumbled upon this quote from Samuel aka The Protagonist Coach:
[…] be someone no one else can be. Because when you dim your light, you don’t just lose yourself. The whole world loses what only you could give.
It reminded me of a metaphor about colors I came up with about a year ago, right at the end of another post titled Wills and wants.
But I’ve found this one to be so well put and concise. And I love Samuel’s calm voice and demeanor, so I wanted to give him a shout-out.