[easyazon-image align=”left” asin=”1602589844″ locale=”us” height=”333″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51QfPTRfs9L.jpg” width=”222″ alt=”Jennifer Ayres” ]Leaving the Table Hungry?
A Review of
Good Food: Grounded Practical Theology
Jennifer Ayres
Hardback: Baylor UP, 2013
Buy now: [ [easyazon-link asin=”1602589844″ locale=”us”]Amazon[/easyazon-link] ] [ [easyazon-link asin=”B00FW6H6VI” locale=”us”]Kindle[/easyazon-link] ]
Reviewed by Rachel Marie Stone
What makes food good?
Is it ‘good’ because it tastes good – or because its constituent parts are ‘good’ for us? Is it ‘good’ because it has been carefully, perhaps artfully, prepared and served? Is it ‘good’ when it is eaten in good company, or shared generously with those who don’t have enough?
Anyone who follows journalistic writing on topics like the Farm Bill, agribusiness, livestock production, pesticide usage, price supports, and labor abuses in agriculture and food processing – particularly in the meatpacking industry, which has in important ways reverted to conditions highly reminiscent of those described by Upton Sinclair in The Jungle more than 100 years ago – knows that what constitutes ‘good’ food is highly contested even before one gets to questions of optimal diet and healthfulness. Complexities in international trade in food commodities mean that our food choices often affect others in ways we can hardly imagine, much less trace out.
For years now, a variety of authors have been urging Americans to be mindful of food. Ralph Nader and Frances Lappe explained to us the unsound economics of contemporary industrial beef production: it takes many pounds of grain and many gallons of water to produce just one pound of beef; furthermore, the runoff from these large cattle-raising operations created serious ecological problems that threatened the health of lives human, animal, and plants, to say nothing of the misery of the confined animals themselves. I – and many others raised by parents with frugal and/or Anabaptist leanings – grew up on recipes from Mennonite Central Committee’s More With Less Cookbook along with the other books in the series. More recently, writers such as Michael Pollan, Mark Bittman, Marion Nestle, and Barbara Kingsolver have urged Americans to become aware of the food we’re eating: to consider what good food means in our contemporary context. In her capacity as first lady, Michelle Obama has advocated for healthy eating and organic vegetable gardening.
Jennifer Ayres, an assistant professor at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, has entered the conversation on what constitutes ‘good food’ in her newest book, Good Food: Grounded Practical Theology. The first part of the book lays a foundation familiar to those who’ve read the authors named above, or who are familiar with Wendell Berry’s and Norman Wirzba’s agrarian writings. The very same system that has provided more food more cheaply to more people has ironically exacted some very high costs: to the health of people, the planet, and animals, and in significant ways, American abundance may well be of a spurious kind: the excess calories and fat we eat diminish our health; the large-scale agriculture practiced by corporations exploits human labor as well as natural resources, and is supported by government policies that line the pockets of the wealthy while impoverishing those who are already struggling, both in the US and abroad.
CLICK HERE to continue reading on Page 2…
 Reading for the Common Good From ERB Editor Christopher Smith "This book will inspire, motivate and challenge anyone who cares a whit about the written word, the world of ideas, the shape of our communities and the life of the church." -Karen Swallow Prior Enter your email below to sign up for our weekly newsletter & download your FREE copy of this ebook! |
Understanding Christian Nationalism [A Reading Guide] |
 Most Anticipated Books of the Fall for Christian Readers!
|
 Hilarious One-Star Customer Reviews of Bibles |
OK. So this review made me not want to read the book. Was that your intent?