Eating the Landscape Evaluation

Olivia Nordman

ENGL 102-037

Professor Melissa Santos

13 March 2018

            The book we just finished, Eating the Landscape by Enrique Salmon mixes a range of cultures together from Southwestern United States through northern Mexico. Not only is this a cultural act, but a political act as well. The knowledge he has gained over the years from his experiences shines through in this narrative, explaining to the reader how the Earth and its landscape are really what bring people together. It is the actual landscape for human connection. As much as eating is a huge part of Eating the Landscape, it is also about the politics as well. “Through our choices to eat locally or to eat food that has traveled 2,000 miles to reach our grocer’s shelves, we support a process” (p. 8). He states that Eating the Landscape is a socially reaffirming act. Sometimes people do not think about where their food came from or the process other people had to go through just to get it to where it is when they go about their purchase. Whether we realize it or not, we are consuming many different origins and hard work others had to put in for us to get the food we enjoy on a daily basis.

            Then Salmon explains that Eating the Landscape is not only about the act of eating, or about the act of politics, but it is also a cultural act as well. We are surrounded by world full of people, and we may seem the same, we are humans, but everybody has a different background. And of course, food is at the top of the list of what brings people together. “We have to eat in order to survive; therefore, food becomes a medium through which a complex of collective memories from generations of preparing tamales remains alive and intact” (p. 9). Eating our culture is a custom that we experience in our lives.

            Salmon really included everything in this book when it comes to the Earth and its foods. Towards the end of the book he talks about processed foods, digestion, and nutrition. This topic, I know, is very interesting to some people, including myself. I found myself enjoying the part in Chapter 5 where he explains how some Traditional foods are harder to digest, but how it evens out because of the numerous health benefits. It is really very interesting hearing all of the stories and knowledge Salmon has picked up over the years. In my opinion, this book has a topic for everyone whether it be politics, culture, or nutrition, he includes it all.