The Consequences of Reading about Real Life

There comes a point when knowing too much becomes a hazard. When knowing the political turmoil behind a single rose strips that rose of its beauty and intent. When, having read the statistics about fuel consumption for food mobility, you deny yourself your favorite foods, and become bitter that the aromatic shrimp dish being enjoyed by your dining companion is not placed in front of you. When your culinary hero comes off as a bit of a pretentious social-climber and you wonder if your fandom has been wasted.

I have read exclusively non-fiction this year. I think though, there comes a point, where your abilities of reason need to kick-in.

I absolutely loved Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. It made me think very much about seasonality and local sustainability. I believe these are VERY important things to address. By eating seasonally available, local ingredients I’m supporting local farmers. I’ve ridden through these farmers’ fields, I’ve seen them hard at work, often using the same tools that their ancestors used - scythes and hoes, donkeys and wooden carts. I love being able to support these farmers and their families in the villages around (and even in the center of) Cairo.

However, while I support these ideas, I cannot let them completely rule my life (which, fortunately, Kingsolver acknowledges in her book). Sometimes, I want a Granny Smith apple - formerly of Massachusetts - in my belly in Cairo. Shrimp and seafood are staples of my diet; unfortunately, despite the inviting deep-blue of the Nile outside my window right now, I’ve read enough (and experienced enough) of the consequences on the Western tummy of eating Nile fish that I know the locavore seafood option won’t work for me. (Nor will switching to a poultry-meat only diet). I’m still going to eat my Vietnamese shrimp, my New Zealand mussels, and my Australian fish as long as it is available. I’m sure the people who work in those industries, and the import/export industry, appreciate my patronage, too.

I’ve just finished Wildflower by Mark Seal. This was a biography of Joan Root, a wildlife filmmaker and conservationist in Kenya. The story was captivating and Root comes across as an amazing woman - and the Kenyan flower industry is painted the villain - with roses the source of all the evils in Root’s world.

So should I not buy roses? or Asparagus in Winter? (or Julia Child’s cookbooks?)

No. I should be aware of these issues; and do my part to ensure a healthier planet by eating locally when I CAN (not just when it suits me, but to supplement my diet everywhere reasonable), and I can ask for baladi (local) roses at my flower man (he usually gives me the local organic roses anyway, because he knows I prefer their scent - and they all cost the same - less than $4 a dozen). These are small steps I can take that won’t disrupt my daily routine. Maybe they won’t make a huge impact - but small steps by an individual can’t hurt. (as for Julia Child - I just can’t shake my love for recipes and sass - even if, in her letters, she comes across as a snob.)

In the end, I’m not going to stop reading non-fiction, and learning from it; but I am too much the critical thinker and individual to let what I read rule my life.