If climate change is the call to action, the food movement is a powerful way to engage with that call. (The greenhouse gas contribution of our modern industrialized agricultural system is around a third of total global emissions, depending on your system of accounting.) The food movement encompasses a huge range of people and values, but is often expressed as disillusionment with “Big Food” and an interest in creating and nurturing resilient alternative realities of production and consumption—a rupture in business-as-usual.
The woman kneads the dough on a flour-dusted counter-top. Her frail wrists work the mixture expertly, as she shapes it into a ball and puts it in an old mixing bowl to let it rest. A little coating of olive oil on top and she covers it with a clean dish towel. Carefully, she passes the bowl to the little girl and tells her it’s time to tuck it into bed. Just four and a half years old, the little girl holds the “magic bowl” with all her strength. The ceramic is heavy and cool in her arms, but she is careful not to drop it.
For about two-and-a-half years of my life, from the age of 12-14, my dad was responsible for cooking dinner for himself, my brother, and I. My dad falls neatly into many of the stereotypes about a “manly” relationship with food—he loves meat, hates spinach and mushrooms, and before he assumed the role of family cook, his primary food preparation responsibility was grilling steaks. Consequently, his repertoire drew heavily on the few, simple dishes he had picked up in his 20s and beyond—a quasi-weekly rotation of meatloaf, spaghetti and meatballs, Italian sausage-and-pepper subs, and beef stroganoff and pasta-roni from the box.
But the real star of the show was my dad’s college favorite: lemon-garlic chicken.
If the conferences were in many cases interesting and inspiring this was not the main strength of We Feed the Planet. I found the main power in the people, in the energy of the young producers that travelled from the other side of the world to come to Milano to get in touch with people with the same ideals and vision. It was amazing walking around and seeing people in circles talking, maybe about farming techniques, or about new businesses and collaborations.