Hey y'all, TrashcanOfIdeology formally introducing myself.

I picked the username right after watching the pervert's guide to ideology and before zizek started having a string of bad to worse, to awful, takes.

I've been around since the time the subreddit got banned, and this community has really been amazing in so many ways. For example, I don't think I would've had the information, support, and felt as confident to realize I am/come out as nb had it not been for y'all. So, thanks!

A little bit about me:

  • From the Global South, immigrated to an imperial core nation for a variety of reasons.
  • I'm very, very into food. Almost obsessively so. Not only the act of cooking itself or the growing/preparation of ingredients (i love those, too), but the social, ecological, environmental, and philosophical questions around food, taste, and gastronomic culture and justice. I worked in professional kitchens on and off for several years, did a masters on food and anthropology, and since covid began I have been lucky to make a modest living as a food scholar and supporting food activists. I'll talk your ear off about any of that kind of stuff, so if y'all wanna talk food i'm your person.
  • I love dogs, and will likely adopt a lil' puppy sometime soon. As soon as they come to my place, i'll introduce them to you :)

Great to make your acquaintance deng-cowboy

  • culpritus [any]
    ·
    11 months ago

    Food anthropology sounds super cool. I love learning about the meshing of ecology, climate, cultures, etc around food. Nixtamalization, indigenous maize practices and such are really interesting to learn about. The historic agave trade across these cultures is also something I've learned a bit about.

    I'd bee happy to see any sort of effort posting on this kind of stuff.

  • AntifaSuperWombat [she/her]
    ·
    11 months ago

    I don't think I would've had the information, support, and felt as confident to realize I am/come out as nb had it not been for y'all

    Yeah, this forum truly is a rare marble.

  • Budwig_v_1337hoven [he/him]
    ·
    11 months ago

    I had one single food cultures class in uni and it changed a lot about how I see my own cooking; finally opened my eyes to the social function of food, really. I have always liked good food, but more from an egoistic-hedonistic place than anything else.

    Food is great, but more great is eating it with other people, the whole getting together and enjoying as a community part of it. And it does nourish us in ways that caloric value doesn't do justice as a measurement.

    Anyways, any great food culture media you wanna recommend maybe? I'm open for reading or anything audio-visual, podcasts, whatever really.

      • TraschcanOfIdeology [they/them, comrade/them]
        hexagon
        ·
        edit-2
        10 months ago

        Oh, so many to choose from. My favorite food movie is "Babette's Feast". It has so much food for thought (hah, get it), about the social and emotional role that making, eating, and critiquing (as in, being critical and mindful about the aesthetic experience of eating, not being a snobby ass) food has.

        Special mentions to "Como agua para chocolate", "Big Night", and I really loved "The Menu", for its very real, and scathing critique of the world of haute cuisine, and the people who dine in those kinds of spaces. "Ratatouille" is a beautiful love letter to the purest way of the love for food.

        Lately i've been obsessed with the TV show "The Bear", too. It's a very real representation of work in a kitchen, and how every single person working in foodservice is broken somehow, but we find some kind of masochistic solace that's hard to find somewhere else.

        On the topic of documentaries, i watched "Natural Resistance" a few years ago, for the first time, and I rewatch it every now and then. If you're at all curious about wines, and specially about the kind of winemaker who's not some aristocratic douchebag making 2000 dollar a bottle, boring-ass, dead wine you should give it a try.

    • TraschcanOfIdeology [they/them, comrade/them]
      hexagon
      ·
      10 months ago

      I have tons of books I could recommend. Anything by Carolyn Korsmeyer or Lisa Heldke, if you're into the more philosophical side of food (which is kind of my area and vibe), Especially "Philosophers at Table", amazing, dense little volume. David Kaplan's "Food Philosophy: an introduction" is good, too. Some really interesting essays on food justice and animal liberation. About food cultures, mobility and exchange the recommendation about Salt is really good, I have to look in my bookcase to pick up some titles that might be similar/interesting for a lay audience. Off the top of my head, Sandor Katz's "Fermentation as a Metaphor" is really good, but I also love all things fermented.

      On the part about taste/hedonistic pleasure of food, Nicola Perullo's "Taste as Experience" is a bit difficult, but it's right on the bleeding edge of food aesthetics. Speaking of, one of the foundational texts of the field is by beloved (or hated, depending on your view) lefty philosopher John Dewey. On biographies, there's a reason so many people who work in food say that Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential" is what sent them over the edge. It's well written, enjoyable, and titillating. A more mellow version of it is Jacques Pepin's memoir.

      There are some interesting essays or articles i'd like to recommend, but i can't remember them. I'll get back with more.

      • Budwig_v_1337hoven [he/him]
        ·
        10 months ago

        Thanks a lot, that's gonna keep me fed for a while, I believe - Fermentation as Metaphor sounds super interesting, going off the title alone.
        Definitely still here for any of the shorter stuff you may remember too

    • ReadFanon [any, any]
      ·
      10 months ago

      Not the person who you responded to but you might appreciate the micro-history work of Mark Kurlansky, in particular Salt: A World History which really does live up to its name as it weaves together the socio-politico-economic history of salt production and use across the globe, obviously centring the culinary side a lot (but perhaps not as much as you might expect.)

  • plantifa [they/them]
    ·
    11 months ago

    Food, it's wonderful folks, and many people are saying this! Welcome friend, we're glad that you've been here with us on the six-sided bear site, and please do share (practicing good opsec of course) doggy pics!

  • FunkyStuff [he/him]
    ·
    10 months ago

    You claim to be interested in the culinary arts, yet your main source of subsistence comes from the trashcan of ideology. Very curious.