Whole Life Times: Get Your Grub On

October 2006 | Thought for Food

Get Your Grub On

From the health implications of what we put in our mouths to the economic and environmental impacts of how our food is raised, the Grub movement is an A-Z activist’s guide to eating

by Lynn Peemoeller

There is laughter and notable pride whenever Anna Lappé and Bryant Terry mention that the recipes in their new book, Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen, come complete with their own suggested soundtracks. But for these two hip food activist-philosophers, music is as essential an ingredient as food or seasoning in the pleasures of local, healthy and sustainable eating.

Lappé and Terry’s Grub dishes out heaping portions of this joyful philosophy, along with a blow-by-blow breakdown of the reformation happening in fields, restaurants, markets and kitchens around the country. Renowned agricultural writer Wendell Berry once said, “Eating is an agricultural act.” What he meant was, whether you realize it or not, every time you eat you are connected to the larger food system. The Grub movement is founded on a three-pronged approach to transforming that system: the ecological farming revolution, which speaks to where food comes from and how it’s raised; the revival of local foods, which outlines why buying food from local farmers gives you superior food and helps the local economy; and the just plate, which encourages values-driven shopping to support food businesses that pay fair wages, treat workers with respect and protect them from pesticide exposure. All these ideals have at their foundation the nostalgic values that once were the cornerstone of American culture, but have been beaten out by the bottom line. Grub brings the “triple bottom line” back to what we eat.

The Grub movement speaks to a generation of cultural creative consumers who are curious about organic and local foods but don’t quite understand the politics behind them. It explains why we should care about the food we put in our bodies, where it comes from and where the money we spend on it ends up, and it empowers ordinary folks like us to get in touch with our values and make food decisions that reflect them.

For the past few months, Lappé and Terry have been on the bounce, relentlessly touring the country spreading the Grub gospel. But you won’t find them in some dank bookstore basement expounding to 10 converts. They’ve taken their message to the streets, using the momentum of the national food movement as a platform from which to draw attention to community groups doing the pioneering work they highlight in Grub. One day they’re visiting a bustling farmers market, another day they are in an inner-city community garden marveling at the growth of the urban agriculture movement taking hold in America’s cities.

Lappé and Terry knew soon after they first met in their Brooklyn, NY neighborhood that they were meant to collaborate on this project. Lappé, co-founder of the Small Planet Institute and co-author of Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet with her mother, renowned activist Frances Moore Lappé, said, “The more Bryant and I talked, the more we realized that we were both working on similar issues, but from different approaches.” What they shared most was the frustration of trying to explain “sustainable food systems” to their friends.

“As we conceptualized the book, we began to picture our readers as our friends, people who wanted to know more about where their food comes from but didn’t necessarily have any background on it,” Lappé said.

Terry, a chef and food justice activist, adds, “I wanted a book that wasn’t just about issues but also about the celebration of healthy, delicious and sustainable food.”

Grub reminds us that cheap food is not the bargain it first appears. The low price comes at the consumer’s expense, manifesting in what economists call “externalities” or defrayed costs associated with cheap mass production of goods and services like pollution, global warming and unfair trade laws. These externalities take a toll on the environment and economy, and the consumer ultimately pays the difference or “real cost” in the form of taxes and higher prices for non-food related goods and services.

But viable alternatives to the conventional food system are within reach, and today more Americans than ever are choosing organic, fair trade, locally-grown food. However Terry reminds us that not everyone has equal access to quality food, especially many people of color who live in urban “food deserts” where there are few, if any, food stores. When food access is limited, so is choice.

Terry witnessed the unhealthy eating habits of inner city kids while working throughout the five boroughs of New York City, and was inspired to create the nonprofit organization b-healthy (Build Healthy Eating and Lifestyles to Help Youth). As a chef, he naturally perceived food as an important vehicle for teaching kids how to take care of their health and communities. B-healthy’s intensive training project teaches kids cooking skills as a way to empower them to make change in their lives. From his digs in Oakland, Calif., Terry is soon to share that same kind of empowerment with communities of color throughout the country as he embarks on the Grub POC (people of color) tour, truly proving that Grub is for everyone.

When Terry espouses the Grub philosophy, it’s as though he’s sharing family secrets. “It was really important for me to recognize that my connection to food was fostered by the traditions of my parents and the lineage of our ancestors,” he says. This is reflected in several of his recipes, which invoke his African American heritage. His menus are an eclectic range of seasonally focused and ethnically diverse recipes, most vegetarian. From Afro-Latina Tapas to vegan Straight Edge Punk Breakfast Brunch, the diverse menus highlight health. Although he finds it hard to choose favorites, Terry concedes he regularly returns to a decadent chocolate pecan pudding pie with a nut crust.

In the end, what makes a meal worthwhile is whom you share it with. Grub is about good food, good company and good tunes. You want to change the world? Get out the pots and pans, sling that canvas bag over your shoulder and head out to the farmers market to get some real grub. Invite your friends over, turn up the music and feed them the wisdom and the love. Be sure to serve contemplation on the side.

Lynn Peemoeller is a food systems planner. She is Program Director of Sustain in Chicago.

Recommend this page to a friend

Top Ten pages recommended to friends: