FOOD NEWS: Kitchen Literacy

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PART 1—A conversation with author, Ann Vileisis about Kitchen Literacy, what we know about our food, and how we came to know it. For Ann, her book Kitchen Literacy came about because she was struck by how much she didn't know about the common foods she encountered in the supermarket. In the research for her book, she was surprised to learn how much people expected to know about their food in pre-industrial times. For example, meats, they would find out the sex and age of the animal, the farm it came from, and even the animal's background. Certainly a far cry from our expectations today!

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[dmccoig]

Awesome , I love the old footage of the women in the kitchen! and the children as well.

Actually, I think all of the footage and still shots are fantastic.

very cool piece.

Dan

[cookingupastory]

I was amazed to have found footage that had people walking through a sidewalk market! Fascinating to see and think about how people used to get their food.

[dionysusstar]

I absolutely agree. It seems our culturals stance on this subject is ignorance is bliss. Maybe with the sharp increases in food costs and contaiminated foods people's eyes will start to open and some change can come about. Thanks for posting.

[cookingupastory]

I think some of the ignorance grew out of a trust factor that what we bought was good food for us. Talking to Ann and reading her book was an eye opener for me. I think you'll find part 2 very interesting, dionysusstar.

[cookingtheeasyway]

really good interview.

i wish something can be done about the quality of food we consume, i am sure we will not have the health problems that we get from all the processed and un-natural foods that are available in the supermarkets. thanks for sharing Rebecca!

[4theloveofmusic1392]

1. say your name 10 times

2. say your mom's name 5 times

3. say your crushes name 3 times

4. post this to 4 other songs. if you do not do this yyou will have bad luc

[kutark]

Though i applaud her efforts to raise awareness about the products you buy and how they are produced, i still believe truth should be sought over all else, even if it doesn't support your initial thesis.

[kutark]

I think personally she is putting the cart before the horse. Or rather to say, confusing the cause and effect. I havent read the book so i can't say with certainty, but its fairly easy to infer from the statements regarding where the food came from. The reason people knew so much about their food was not for any moral or ethical reason, but for safety reasons. Organizations like the FDA didnt exist, and it was your responsibility to know the safety of your food.

[zizizzi]

Yep... I thought it was that easy!

Then came the pests. I won't use any chemicals so I am now learning about campanion planting and insects that prey on the pests.

[tasha122277]

here is what i can remember: dig a hole where the sun grows, throw in the seeds, throw a little soil back on with some water.

[zizizzi]

I realized how far from the farm I am when i tried to grow my own veggies...

I'm still working on it!

[busstonedfx1]

I read this book for my writing class, definitely got your point across. Thanks alot!

[bhjdog]

This interview gives us a nice insight to the book "Kitchen Literacy" which I read and enjoyed. The way you explained and showed through example about how we lost that important knowledge about where our food comes from. I agree with you and I think that it is important to know what exactly we are putting in our bodies.

[Zoreimi]

The video gives a brief summary of the book, which I really enjoyed. The book creates a conscious mostly on people who are not aware of where there food is made and how it is made.

[Medrack]

I think this author brings up a very interesting point of view, one that i had never analyzed. I can't say i am very confident in her sources, how can i trust a "diary" written by some random woman, supposedly 100 years ago.