Book Review

Nadim Barakat

Professor Santos

English 

3/16/18 

Book Review

         The book, Eating the Landscape: American Indian Stories of Food, Identity, and Resilience, focuses on the work of indigenous farmers in the American Southwest and Mexico who work to preserve the environment and their culture. Enrique Salmon, the author of this book, is the head of the American Indian Studies program at Cal State University East Bay. In his book, he focuses on the connections between the environment and its preservation by highlighting people’s constant relationship to it. I enjoyed and recommend Eating the Landscape, because I was able to constantly travel with the author, felt that it covered contemporary pressing topics well, and used vivid language and imagery. 

      The book starts by taking its readers to the kitchen of the author’s grandmother in which he showed how his indigenous background influenced his outlook on food and landscape since he was young. The readers are then taken to the Pueblos of New Mexico where inhabitants express their concern about the seemingly weak relationship between their youth and the landscape. It is through this event that we are able to comprehend some of their struggles and thus better build a bond to people and this book. The author then took the audience to the Colorado plateau where they got to meet the landscape and its people. We then meet Ellan Frank, an American Indian chief, who explains how culture is directly related to the food eaten and recipes passed on. 

      This book also addressed contemporary topic which are important to our current diet. The author discussed the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and their impact on our lives. The author makes note of their negative impacts, something I believe is important to discuss especially considering our extensive use of them. Salmon instead advocates for reliance “on our family collective memories around foods.” I think this book did a good job addressing the issue of GMOs in relation to our connection to food and the landscape without blurring the focus by using scientific terminology.

      Lastly, the book used imagery which helped me appreciate the book and better understand the ideas of the author. The tenth and last chapter is called the “Whole Enchilada,” to demonstrate the interconnectedness of topics such as environmental justice and ecological protection. This metaphor certainly allowed me to better comprehend the main viewpoint of the author and thus was a positive addition to the book.  

      This book was a unique and meaningful read because it used indigenous values to assess the current state of people on their relationship to the planet and food. It was certainly unlike any environmental book that I previous read because of its specific focus. I recommend this book to anyone trying to gain multiple perspectives on the world and especially to people aiming for a degree in environmental studies. 


(my e-book version has page numbers in the hundreds and thousands so I couldn't put proper page numbers after the quotes.)