Food
is direct cultural memory;
it nourishes as it keeps us alive and connects us to
the past -- our own, our families,' our communities.'
Our media is also direct
cultural memory.
It has the fierce ability to nourish our consciousness just as
powerfully and to keep us alive to imagine realities other than our own. -- -- Helen De Michiel
Well said! This quote is from Helen De Michiel's article, "Toward A Slow Media Practice," in which she outlines the relationships between food and media. Her ideas are a good platform from which to explore the many ways in which our daily immersion in food and media can make sense as unifying experiences, one nurturing the other.
Both presenting the same choices about how we choose to address corporate control, local food and media independence, transnational yet grassroots collaborations, fair trade. And what I like best: both offering joy.
Michiel goes on to say that "Both Slow Food and Media Arts represent significant niches in our cultural landscape.They are quiet movements built on the ideals of self-determination, community empowerment, and preservation of legacy in a throwaway milieu. While neither valued nor well understood by the mainstream, they both are sustaining individuals and communities with imaginative practices that transform consciousness in a slow and steady flow.
While Slow Food defends endangered foods, we struggle to carve out and protect a public space where independent media arts practices can thrive."
Now I'm going to make a nice breakfast!
