Mmm... bread...
My darling girlfriend, knowing my anger at the no-/low-carb diet fad of the past few years, passed on this Boston Globe op-ed by Susan V. Seligson. Seligson's take is different from mine (which, summed up crudely, consists of, "Bread! It's so good! How could you not eat it?!?), arguing that bread is an essential component of culture all around the world. The following quote sums up Seligon's attitude towards bread:
I never tire of traveling to new places to learn how people nourish their bodies and spirits, how they rejoice, mourn, and manage in the face of adversity. The native bread teaches us these things and more. Visit a village bakery or a matron tending a clay hearth to feed her family. Watch, listen, inhale -- the bread tells the most essential human stories.
I don't have much else to say on this. The rest of the article provides rather poignant examples of just what Seligson's talking about.
posted by Danny @ 4:19 PM
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The low carb fad has become such a headache. I bought some crackers a few weeks ago that were, oddly enough, low carb. It turned out that I inadvertantly selected the wrong variety.
How she ends the post is curious, noting that the word for life and bread is the same in Arabic. Of course it is just an op-ed, but I wonder if other general readers have the same suspicion. Just for example, kami in Japanese means god, paper, or hair, quite unrelated meanings.
I think the sentiment presented in her article can be applied to meat. From barbeques to sushi, meat is so good, how could you not eat it? It's clearly a part of (almost every) culture. But is it safe anymore? (Or was it ever safe?) Does it make sense? Do we really need it? Is meat apt for our digestive system? Maybe these questions are irrelevant because we can eat meat. By the way, Danny, are you still vegetarian? I'm curious why or why not.
Your point about the near-universality of meat in human diets the world over is a good one. But I think Seligson would argue that bread is more fundamental to culture than meat. Whether that's true is unclear to me, but I think she's right to point out that there's more to consider than just weight loss and nutrition in choosing one's diet (never mind the fact that carbs are good for you and meat often isn't).
I'm still vegetarian, though my vegan days are long gone.
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