A review by readrunsea
A Matter of Taste: A Farmers' Market Devotee's Semi-Reluctant Argument for Inviting Scientific Innovation to the Dinner Table (Exploded Views) by Rebecca Tucker

4.0

As a former farmhand with a grad degree in agriculture focusing on production + environment, this book is right up my very niche alley. It’s basically a long essay exploring some different facets of food systems from a consumer’s perspective. I like it because it’s pretty anti-dogma which is exactly my belief system when it comes to food production, consumption, and life in general. I spent nearly a decade steeped in the culture and day-to-day of small (like, really small on a global scale) organic agriculture. In my experience farmers are some of the most intelligent and pragmatic people on the planet, and even though they certainly have ideals and put so much heart into their work, it’s the foodie consumers who get dogmatic about food and put all kinds of value judgment on the ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ way to eat. The locavore movement is inaccessible to most, plain and simple, for a ton of reasons that Rebecca Tucker does a good job of outlining. In my college days I was a Michael Pollan devotee and now find him insufferable, and he’s a big reason that locavorism exists the way it does. Tucker writes about him and his ilk (Mark Bittman, Barbara Kingsolver et al) with skepticism that I agree is warranted, without attacking them on a personal level. She also touches on precision farming and some new technologies that are being piecemeal integrated into some farming practices. Her ultimate thesis is that agriculture writ large is endlessly complicated and food-system related problems (which is like, every problem on earth) can only be addressed with nuance. Truth. So basically, I didn’t learn anything new from this but I think the average non-farm nerd would, and anyway it’s a good overview of something that defies overview by its very nature. Thanks to Coach House Books for the ARC! Opinions are my own.