The first chapter in Steven Poole’s book, You Aren’t What You Eat” starts off with a statement that most, if not all foodies might consider quite inflammatory: “Western Industrial civilization is eating itself stupid.” The subtitle of his book, “Fed up with Gastroculture” … is an expression that pretty well sums up how I feel about today’s obsession with food and drink.
This isn’t a review of Poole’s’ book. There are plenty of those but its message certainly rings true to someone like me to whom the world of gastronomy might as well be spinning in another universe.
You see I lack the basic entry requirements to fully function in a society where the appreciation of food and wine has become almost a religion and its experts, the new gurus. My lack of fully functioning olfactory receptors denies me the ability to taste and smell; it is, therefore, difficult for me to find real purpose and meaning in the professed pleasure of eating and drinking.
Not only am I denied the fundamental human experience of tasting and smelling what I ingest, but I also feel socially marginalised. My impaired olfactory ability means I have little interest and enthusiasm for the culinary talents and latest offerings aired on national TV by gastronome hosts like Maggie and Simon, Poh and Pete Evans. All this leaves me feeling intellectually ill-equipped to contribute meaningfully to an ever expanding social conversation about what we eat ... a conversation constantly being driven by the burgeoning proliferation of gastronomic content in all forms of media.
As if there wasn’t enough content on national television, an entire channel “will soon be available to Australian foodies” when SBS will launches a new 24-hour dedicated food channel, Food Network, from 17 November.
Paul H
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