Think of a great library of flavours. For the last century we have been recklessly burning all of the books. [loc. 1824[The author is a professor of culinary geography, a job I had no idea existed: 'combines my love of travel with my love of eating'. Her investigation of species extinction and its impact on cuisine takes her from Iceland to Hawaii, from musings on mammoths -- the wave of their extinction moved at a human's walking pace -- to being eaten alive by mosquitoes in Canada's far north whilst in search of bison. (Newman is Canadian, and frequently contrasts food availability and gastroculture in the US and in Canada.)
Humans have domesticated, farmed or industrialised only a tiny percentage of edible plants and animals. Megafauna such as mammoths, dodos and aurochs have been driven extinct, or bred into safer forms, but there are vast swathes of the invertebrate kingdom left untasted. As Newman's subtitle indicates, this book is not merely a paean to vanished species, but an exploration of alternatives to the resource-intensive, ecologically-damaging agricultural methods that are devastating ecologies worldwide.
Lost Feast is packed with memorable (and often horrifying) statistics, presented in an accessible form. On American farming: "Roughly half of the calories we grow on the 14 percent of the earth’s land surface used for crop farming is actually eaten by people; 36 percent of the remainder is eaten by animals, with the last portion used for ethanol.In the meat-loving United States, only 27 percent of crops are eaten directly by people... it takes one hundred calories of grain to produce twelve calories of chicken; the same grain produces only three calories worth of beef." [loc. 933] Some of the assertions seemed wildly improbable -- were there really no honey bees in North America until 1621? yes, really!-- but there is a substantial bibliography, and plenty of citations.
Kudos, by the way, to Newman: many of the books she cites as inspiration are the work of female academics, for instance How to Clone a Mammoth, by Beth Shapiro; Defending Beef by Nicolette Niman; and The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert, a key text.
Interspersed with Newman's explorations are 'extinction dinners', in which her friend Dan creates a meal that approximates the extinct, or problematic, food that Newman has discussed. Some of these dinners are more appealing than others (pears with fish sauce? I don't care if it was a Roman delicacy) and some -- such as the feast of invasive species Dan prepares during their Hawai'ian trip -- are mouthwatering. Perhaps most germane is the 'Burger 2.0' meal, in which Dan explores alternatives to the traditional beefburger. ('recent studies suggest that each cow is more damaging in terms of climate change impact than the average car.' [loc. 753]). The 'taste testers' include enthusiastic carnivore Dan, and a vegan friend: their consensus was that the Beyond Burger (pea protein, yeast and coconut oil) is a serious contender, and also waaaay too meaty for the vegan.
This is a marvellous read, reminiscent of Margaret Visser's Much Depends on Dinner in its discursive approach, its weaving together of social, geographical and historical factors, and its occasional wry humour. Highly recommended.
Thanks to NetGalley for a free ebook in exchange for this honest review!
No comments:
Post a Comment