Friday, July 16, 2004

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.

1 Comments:

At Jul 18, 2004, 10:53:00 AM , Blogger Danny said...

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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