Eating the Landscape Evaluation

            Throughout Enrique Salmón’s cookbook, Eating the Landscape the reader is introduced to a whole new perspective on food. Today’s society takes food for granted and Salmón shows us the struggles farmers are put through every day. The first thing consumers think of when they hear food, is a restaurant or super market. After reading this book, the reader is quick to think of farmers and the struggles of the growing process along with ways to appreciate organically grown crops.

            Just like the previous book the class read, Braiding Sweet grass, Salmón kept me interested throughout the book. He surprised me with connections made with food that make sense and yet people are oblivious to it. For example, food and politics don’t tend to get along which creates huge conflicts between the government and farmers. Salmón basically portrays the government as a middle man between crops and consumers, needing to be cut out. We need to strengthen the connection of the process of growing food with the average human. One of my favorite things Salmón incorporates in the book is the Raramuri and their connection with food. These people are on another level of human connection with food Salmón states “When a Raramuri child becomes sick, the parents offer food to a creek or pond in hopes this will attract the child’s lost soul back to the child.” (23). Not only does Salmón provide examples of what other cultures do, he provides steps to fixing the broken food system with the first being the ability to embrace the facts that we have a corrupt and broken way of providing and growing food.

In the last chapter, Salmón perfectly describes the human brain and how we adapt to what we are told. A review online fully summarizes what the author is trying to get across to the reader in the final chapter by stating “Salmón is making a similar argument by contending that our foods, our language, and our ways of understanding are closely tied to the places where we live and the experiences we have in those places.” (27) As human’s we grow based on our surroundings. Cultures such as the Raramuri grow with food because of the powers they believe are within the actual food. Our culture however is lacking the respect food deserves because people in the United States specifically, expect food to always be provided for us. We don’t go through the rough growing and harvesting process. I believe that this entire book is dedicated as an example of what we should be doing versus what we are currently doing wrong.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to be a part of changing the majority of the world’s perception of food. We need to show more respect and invest more time in food if we want to keep America and other countries healthy. This book is great because Salmon makes the problem apparent by showing humans what we should be doing. He finally provides steps in the right direction of healthy living because of food.