What are you eating? (Berry)
April 24th, 2006 | Published in Food, Consumerism, Agrarianism, Quotes, Culture | 6 Comments
The passive American consumer, sitting down to a meal of pre-prepared or fast food, confronts a platter covered with inert, anonymous substances that have been processed, dyed, breaded, sauced, gravied, ground, pulped, stained, blended, prettified, and sanitized beyond resemblance to any part of any creature that ever lived. The products of nature and agriculture have been made, to all appearances, the products of industry. Both eater and eaten are thus in exile from biological reality.
—Wendell Berry, “The Pleasures of Eating,” in The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays of Wendell Berry (2002), p. 323
April 24th, 2006 at 11:35 am (#)
Josh, thank you for all the quotes.
But in the end I ask myself what is worse: to be a part of that “system” or to criticize the system all day and getting bitter in the end?
April 24th, 2006 at 12:02 pm (#)
Philipp,
I think it’s better to understand what is wrong, and then make personal amends to do something about it. If one just criticizes and gets bitter, that is not good. But if one criticizes and then does something about it and lives a better life because of it, that is excellent. I hope, personally, to do and hope for the latter.
Josh
April 25th, 2006 at 2:34 am (#)
Then this is a tough challenge.
I’m trying to go the same road as you do: I am christian too, I’m trying to avoid all those manufactured things, I’m avoiding tv, etc. etc.
For me it’s pretty tough to
1) not getting bitter against all those nodding people following every trend and not thinking for themselfes
2) not overestimate the significance of these things as it is more important to gain salvation than act correct in all these concerns
April 25th, 2006 at 1:28 pm (#)
There is something I do not understand, Philipp, or maybe it’s just a linguistic misunderstanding (English is not my mother tongue)… How can you actually “gain salvation” without “acting correct in all these concerns”? Of course it will depend on the meaning you give to the salvation itself. But if it is something God bestows upon you because of your faith only, and without taking into account your acts (”Sola Fide” line in Christianity), then you can not “gain” it. And if you can “gain” it, then what would be the way to do so if not to “act correct” (in fact should we read “to correct”) the concerns in question? Or at least to try to, in some personal way?
Now, to criticize & to feel bitter is not synonyms - we can feel bitter without criticizing (and when you come to think about it, this is the way the feeling works - quite without any reasoning) & criticize without feeling bitter. In fact, I would say that somehow reasoning (criticism), far from being useless, helps us to get rid of the bitterness - understanding always does.
And maybe another thing can prevent me from getting bitter: there is a difference between what people do & what they are. I can disapprove of what they do; does it always mean I am unhappy with what they are?
April 25th, 2006 at 5:49 pm (#)
Philipp,
It is difficult. I struggle with the same issues–I am sure anyone who tries to avoid these things do. As to your first question, the only answer I have come up with is to do the best I can myself, and make the issues known when possible (this website is one means to that end). The second question is more complicated. These things are important–but is it more important to “gain salvation”? Marianna addressed this question very well and brought up some good questions herself. I think we too often create a dualistic/specialized Christianity that separates body from spirit. We think spiritual matters are more important than body and earth. I know I often think this by default. But the Bible does not create this dualism.
In fact, God says that he has created all things for his pleasure. We must treasure these things and take pleasure in them as well–and not destroy them. Our consumer economy is built on the destruction of what God takes pleasure in, instead of proper stewardship, economy, husbandry, etc. So we must seek to reduce our dependence on it, for it is part of loving God, and loving what he loves.
These are good things to think through. Thanks for bringing them up. They are not easy issues to answer, but I hope we move a little more towards the truth each day.
Josh
April 27th, 2006 at 7:27 am (#)
Marianna, Josh: Thanks for the answers.
Especially the sentence “We think spiritual matters are more important than body and earth. I know I often think this by default. But the Bible does not create this dualism.” makes sense to me. I have to admit that I don’t have strong convictions about things concerning the body.
About “gaining salvation”: To clarify a bit:
1. our primary concern should be to love people and not to tell them not to be consumer-oriented. Ok, you point out that this actually is connected to loving God -> that’s right
2. I don’t want to discuss these issues too much with members of my church. I fear this wouldn’t lead in too many discussions, in the end I believe that these are not the core-issues.