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Kitchen Table Politics: A Thankgiving Special

AIR DATE: Thursday, November 27th 2008
POSTED BY: DAVID MILLER
Download the mp3 for this show.
Photo credit: Fahara / Flickr / Creative Commons

It's holiday season: the time for traveling long distances, reuniting with family, telling the same jokes, listening to the same music and, often, eating the same foods. This is the season of big meals that don't really change from year to year -- that are as much about tradition as sustenance.

But there's a different kind of eating:

Eating not just for sociability, or celebration, or taste -- god forbid that is your only reason! -- but as a political act.

This may mean chowing down on the whole animal, eating "snout to tail," as some happy carnivores suggest.

Or preserving your summer bounty to last you -- in your freezer, or your basement, or your root cellar -- the rest of the year.

Or maybe a personal drive to become a locavore: to eat vegetables and meats and grains that aren't just organic, or fresh, or tasty, but local: tomatoes from your backyard, apples gleaned from the tree down the street, lamb from a nearby zip code.

We're taking Thanksgiving off, but we thought we'd leave you with a holiday smorgasbord made up of some of our favorite moments from three recent shows that explored the intersection of food and politics. We'll be back with a new hour, live and fresh, on Monday, December 1. Happy Thanksgiving!

GUESTS:

Tagged as: canning · food · locavore · meat · preserving

Photo credit: Fahara / Flickr / Creative Commons

As a long-time, multi-generational gardener and canner, I am finding much of this conversation a bit sanctimonious. I am happy that others enjoy the fruits of their labor in January and February, but don't try to make it a political statement or a religious experience. To do so burdens those who can't, don't, or won't with unneeded guilt.
kjanderes —
How do I find locally produced meat? Do farms sell it?
charlesobannon —
Thank you for the segments on home canning and food preservation, buying local and knowing your food among the topics. [b] However [/b], your segments on meat eating makes me want to join PETA. I have been a vegetarian since 1972 for many reasons and one of those is the use of grains and corn that could feed many more people the does one slaughtered animal.

I am thankful to be warm, dry, and fed on this "Thanksgiving" as on every day that I am so graced.

JPS
Jean-Paul —
This comment has been removed by the TOL staff.
replicahandbag —

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