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Slow Food |
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by Peter Bové
(No verified email address) |
21 Feb 2006
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As Americans we champion freedom. Especially freedom of choice on everything from favorite snack to favorite presidential nominee—often times confused. Doesn’t indirect manipulation through policy count when it denies this freedom? Does this sound like free choice? Or is it a slight of hand? Take the current state of affairs touted by the WTO, “agribusiness”. Agribusiness uses genetic modification, hormones, fertilizers and pesticides to force ever-increasing yields from the land in vast monoculture farms. Such farms possibly cause health and environmental problems, and certainly result in the excess of a bland crop. This excess is then dumped onto the foreign markets where it undercuts the price of local produce, not to mention bankrupting the local farmer, proving that genetic modification is not the answer to the problem of world hunger. In fact, one would be hard pressed to believe that the problems of hunger and underdevelopment can be solved by technological means; economic, social and political conditions must be taken into account |
Unlike other Latin based languages, in French the “J” is hard. Pronounced more like the “J” in Josie and the Pussycats… Which brings to mind the love-hate phenomenon France has for “American Culture”. American Culture? American Culture. Not far from another oxymoron: American Cuisine. Which is what anyway? A “Big Mac”?
I bring up “J” for the name José, as in José Bové. José Bové has all but split our family in half. A family spread over four countries on two continents: France, Switzerland, Italy and America. Those members who are a bit more provincial and right of center insist he is no relative, is crazy and that the authorities should put him in jail once and for all and throw away the key. Those of us a bit left of center insist that we should be proud if he is in fact our cousin and do what we can to further his noble cause.
If you have yet to hear of José Bové, he is the French farmer who made international headlines in 1999 for “vandalizing” a McDonald’s as a political protest to its opening in the tiny town of Millau, Montpellier (in the South of France). At the time, the United States slapped a 100 percent duty on Roquefort cheese in response to a European decision to ban importation of hormone-treated U.S. beef. “The Americans took Roquefort hostage, so we had to act beyond the law to defend ourselves,” José told the London Times.
Uncle José is a somewhat ubiquitous international figure turning up at Zapatista marches in Mexico and anti-trade conferences from Seattle to Brazil. Part of this ubiquity is that he is not really a farmer-turned-activist at all. Instead, he is an activist-turned-farmer. You see, it happened back in 1987, when Uncle José helped found and became a leading spokesperson for the Confédération Paysanne, a radical farmer’s union designed to champion small producers.
It was José’s antics with the McDonald’s episode in Millau in ‘99 that first caused me to smile so wide I almost hurt my face. His statement to the French court: “I defend this action not because it was legal, but because it was legitimate.” Didn’t we base an entire country on this premise? (In turn, I previously used the term “vandalize” not because it was legitimate, but because it is included in the official legal charge.)
This was a protest that occurred in broad daylight with women and children participants. José drove up the street towards the half-built McDonald’s on a 1960’s turquoise blue Ford tractor wearing a straw hat and smoking a corncob pipe. I am not sure but I will imagine for the moment he was smiling. Together the protesters did some serious damage: removing doors, roofing, and electrical plates using a tractor, axes, and chainsaws. McDonald’s closed its doors during the two days of the trial, “as if to excuse itself for still remaining there,” as Le Figaro put it. And though the French penal code asks for a maximum sentence of five years in jail and a 500,000-Franc fine, the prosecutors recommended suspended sentences for the 10 cohorts and an 18-month probation for Mr. Bové. At least one prosecutor, Alain Durand, was honest about the public’s opinion prior to the trial: How will we be able to judge if thousands of people are screaming (outside) the name “Bové”? Apparently during the trial for this crime half of Paris was outside the courthouse cheering for Uncle José. Not even Mark Twain could have invented a finer folk hero.
The Wall Street Journal describes Uncle José as, “The Bakunin-quoting former hippie who only became a farmer in 1975 as a political act.” But he is so dedicated to his cause that his book with François Dufour, The World Is Not For Sale, outlines an alternative vision of sustainable farming respectful of the long-term and global context; proving this is not some radical publicity junkie.
On a far smaller scale I have been engaged in the same battle my entire life, however poetic, by supporting shops that market what is now produce abiding by the USDA Organic Food Standards. This is food that is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations. Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides, fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge, bioengineering, or ionizing radiation. Before a product can be labeled “organic,” a government-approved and certified agent inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA Organic Standards. Companies that handle or process organic food before it gets to your local supermarket or restaurant must be certified, too.
At one time finding such foods was an adventure all its own. Now, all one needs to do is go down to the local supermarket (like King Kullen) to find shelves full of organic or at least, natural food. Not all of it is genuine since technically words like “natural” and “organic” are broad terms defining many altered foods, but they’re on the right track. In most of Europe, the food—everything from planning to plate—is part of the lifestyle. In the US, we rush through so much of life we need McDonald’s to get by, as there is no time or energy left to prepare and eat proper meals. So, in a sense, much of the phenomenon that exists regarding the food issues in the US has to do with our lack of lifestyle, which is why the increased availability of “organic” foods makes for optimism.
Uncle José affirms that the free-market philosophy is anything but a project for the liberation of the men and women who live on this planet. Pushed to extremes, free-market society is the privatization and transformation into commodities of everything that makes up the daily life of humankind, including elements essential to life itself: water, the earth, seeds; the genetic heritage of humanity.
This destructive system, based on the law that might is right, offers no future to billions of human beings, notably the peasants of Southern France for whom daily life is nothing beyond the hoe or, at best, animal-drawn implements they wield. France prides itself on a strict, regionally based specialization in produce and cuisine that has evolved over hundreds of years. McDonald’s, for Bové and his supporters, is a symbol of a standardized industrial approach to food cultivation and preparation, which they see as the antithesis of French culinary culture.
As Americans we champion freedom. Especially freedom of choice on everything from favorite snack to favorite presidential nominee—often times confused. Doesn’t indirect manipulation through policy count when it denies this freedom? Does this sound like free choice? Or is it a slight of hand? Take the current state of affairs touted by the WTO, “agribusiness”. Agribusiness uses genetic modification, hormones, fertilizers and pesticides to force ever-increasing yields from the land in vast monoculture farms. Such farms possibly cause health and environmental problems, and certainly result in the excess of a bland crop. This excess is then dumped onto the foreign markets where it undercuts the price of local produce, not to mention bankrupting the local farmer, proving that genetic modification is not the answer to the problem of world hunger. In fact, one would be hard pressed to believe that the problems of hunger and underdevelopment can be solved by technological means; economic, social and political conditions must be taken into account.
This type of culture also poses a threat to the future of farmers. For some decades “productionism” has served to enslave farmers. No longer an autonomous producer and entrepreneur, the farmer has become just someone else who is exploited. As a result, thanks to bureaucratic interference, farmers can no longer decide for themselves how to manage their lands, nor can they freely choose their own techniques for it. Confédération Paysanne made an attempt to put agriculture back into action, which Uncle José put this way: “Why refuse something which is presented as ‘progress’? It’s not because of nostalgia, or regret for the ‘good old days.’ It’s because of concern for the future, and because of a will to have say in future development…”
As for this side of the pond, the Confédération Paysanne is not totally unlike some of our less radical local associations. Take East End-based “Slow Foods”. Slow Foods, founded and run by Tom Morgan and Mary Foster-Morgan, champions the use of local farm produce prior to purchasing outside local markets, as well as other aspects of pro-farmer and worthy natural causes. Even the name Slow Food comes from a moment of poetry. In the mid-80’s, McDonald’s tried to open a franchise near the Spanish Steps in Rome, and Carlo Petrini staged a huge sit-in, saying Rome is about local, seasonal cuisine, about “slow food” and not “fast food”. The idea of eating well from foods produced by one’s farming neighbors and artisans swept Europe, came to the US and is now 10,000 members strong.
Slow Food USA is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to supporting and celebrating the food traditions of North America. From the spice of Cajun cooking to the purity of the organic movement; from animal breeds and heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables to handcrafted wine and beer, farmhouse cheeses and other artisan products; these foods are a part of our cultural identity. They reflect generations of commitment to the land and devotion to the processes that yield the greatest achievements in taste. These foods, and the communities that produce and depend on them, are constantly at risk of succumbing to the effects of the fast life, which manifests itself through the industrialization and standardization of our food supply and degradation of our farmland. By reviving the pleasures of the table, and using our taste buds as our guides, Slow Food USA believes that our food heritage can be nurtured and saved. Slow Food USA oversees Slow Food activities in North America, including the support and promotion of the activities of more than 90 “convivia”.
As much as these may be international, or better, global human issues, and, as much as most media concerns itself with the celebrity resort aspect of the Hamptons, the East End is a farm community. True, in many areas spuds have turned to grapes (not necessarily a bad turn), and in many more areas spuds have turned to Cul de Sac’s of trophy houses. But the farming tradition is still an inherent part of our local complexion, that is, our local “culture”. Yet for some reason it is a way of life, a philosophy of life, which people such as Uncle José and Slow Foods must consciously pursue.
Decisions that each of us makes on a daily basis contribute, support and further one approach or the other. But perhaps it is just a case of altering and redefining the bottom line. God made it right the first time. It is our responsibility to learn how to use it properly. Have we become so full of ourselves (fearful) that we really believe we can improve on millennia of evolution? Maybe not, but some of us have become greedy enough to attempt to trick everyone into thinking we can and should. The rest of us must rightly keep vigil.
I will keep you in my prayers Mon Oncle José.
Peter Bové was a producer of Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner, Oscar Nominated, Capturing the Friedmans. He has also been: director-cameraman on the Portuguese documentary Columbus, Portuguese Spy?; film production instructor at SVA in NYC; writer/director of The Cowboy Kid (a children’s pilot), Wisdom of the Tribe (a documentary on American Indians), Ice Scream (a short film for CMEE featured at the 2004 Atlanta Underground and Rome International Film Festivals); and has written music videos for artists ranging in style from Paul Shaffer and Lenny Kravitz to Wynton Marsalis. One of his feature film scripts, The Dupe of Wales, is currently under contract. He is presently writing and pitching film scripts and television shows.
© 2006 The Improper
http://www.theimproper.com |
See also:
http://www.confederationpaysanne.fr
http://www.slowfoodusa.org
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