The Common Tone

I believe that everybody has one thing. Something that is theirs, an insignia upon their individual banner which they hold high. Of course there are many things in which we believe, but this one thing is the culmination of our beliefs and we hold it as dear as life itself - for many it represents all that is good and sacred in life. Perhaps one’s thing takes the form of a career, or perhaps it plays no part in daily life at all, but simply smolders in the furnace that fuels us. In any case, aside from its recognition, it makes little difference. An excitation of one’s passions, after all, can take place only with the recognition (perhaps development would be more adroit) of this thing. I sincerely hope, though have no way of knowing for certain, that this thing is the channel through which one hopes to make a positive contribution to whichever world one chooses. This thing represents the space in which one is sheltered from numbing relativism or ironically overzealous moderation. It is where no excuses are made, but learning is constant, passionate, exciting, and meaningful. It is in my thing that I firmly plant my feet and say, “I care, this matters to me!”

However accurate the above description actually portrays reality, it certainly sounds like a great system. The astounding number of individuals with their breadth of individuality ensures that everything will be cared about by someone. To clarify, this thing is not all or nothing, rather it is the personal line which connects you to the world around you in a meaningful way. Could it change with time? Perhaps, humans are apt to do so from time to time. For some people it is religion, for others it is technology, still others find their crusade in animals; the list continues, but for me I am planted firmly in food (excuse the pun). Why? Well, I’m glad you asked:

The most fundamentally selfless and communitarian thing we do is to share food; it is the very basis of society. Sex we do not share; we are possessive, jealous and secretive, prone to murdering our sexual rivals and guarding our partners if given the chance. But food is something to share.
From The Origins of Virtue by Matt Ridley
Taken from the chapter entitled “Duty and Feast; In which human generosity with food is explained.”

So I obsess about food (and I include drink in this as well). It is not simply a matter of loving to eat it, though that bit is certainly nice. No, it is every aspect of food: the growing, the preparation, the eating - all of which involves community and sharing. One of the reasons why I continue to develop a love of food is because it is not so easy to take for granted today. Not in its plentifulness, as I am very fortunate in that regard; rather in the quality of every stage. To illustrate this I will recount a discussion I had with a friend of late:

In discussing food, my profound love and his mild indifference therefor, we somehow got to the topic of importation. While he was absolutely for free trade and the opportunity for a Peruvian man to export his potatoes to my home, I was vehemently against it. I explained my position thus:

First and foremost I think it is abundantly clear that, unfortunate though it may be, people will almost always buy the cheaper of two goods, no matter the other, perhaps less empirical costs to them and their community. But these costs are far from negligible. Lynn Truss of Eats, Shoots and Leaves fame recently published a book called The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today or Six Good Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door. In it she talks about, though rants might be a better term, the individual bubble phenomenon. Ridley’s book develops on the “theories” in Truss’ book by blaming the lack of niceness on the lack of opportunity for reciprocal behavior. In other words, we are nice to people because we want them to be nice to us, thus developing a society of cooperating and generally pleasant people. This theory however depends on people in a community seeing each other more than once; repeated interaction as could be logically expected in a community. We are slowly destroying the systems we so painstakingly (and evolutionarily) put in place to ensure that people not only interact, but through these interactions feel responsibility for others. While not altruism in its purest sense, it is the human version of the ideal. This repeated interaction ensures that, for the most part, everyone treats everyone else well so that they and their relatives (read: genes) may be treated well in return and thus prosper. But, if we see someone, whom we are sure never to see again, while passing in an automobile at 80Km/h, we have no difficulty offering them obscene gestures and a loud F$%@ %^f.

One of the above mentioned systems which is being destroyed is our food system. When I buy my potatoes from a guy (or corporation) in Peru, neither he nor I am benefiting from any sort of interaction because we’re both dealing with giant, faceless corporations from thousands of miles away. And if you’re thinking about discussions with people who sell the potatoes to you, consider that for a moment; how much do you actually know about the cashier at the SuperStore? Every Saturday morning however I meet and have a conversation with Johann, a German baker at the market, then later talk about veggies and life with Anne at my usual veggie stand. How often do people say that “networking is the key” in business? Why doesn’t that apply to life anymore? As we lose the systems we built to ensure a functioning society based on cooperation, what takes its place? I hate to blame things on the machines of capitalism and government, for what are they but the systems we support; I think it is abundantly clear that we are losing our social systems and the drive to get them back is just beginning.
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I know you’ve all heard the evils of the green revolution and “conventional” agriculture, so I won’t bombard you. Just remember, while you can (and should!) visit the farmers (who by this time are also friends!) nearby, you have no idea what those veggies in the Superstore went through just to get here.

P.S - I have nothing against Peru, indeed I have never been there.