When I heard this, it reminded me of a phone conversation I’d had after the 2003 Iraq invasion. I was in Washington; a number of my friends had been swept up in the historic journey: cynical journalists, idealistic nation builders, mercenary contractors. Many of them informed me of the two improvised Chinese restaurants that had popped up next to the landing pad of a military hospital in the Baghdad Green Zone, a ten-minute stroll north of Saddam Hussein’s palace. The restaurant in the back was slightly more popular because patrons figured it would be less likely to be damaged by an insurgent attack from the street. These Chinese restaurants in Baghdad had neither Chinese nor Arabic on their menus, only English. Though the Chinese restaurateurs had never been to America, they knew how to attract large crowds with American-style Chinese food like sweet-and-sour pork and pan-fried dumplings.

Among those friends of mine deployed was Walter Miller, a foreign service officer who resembles a bookish version of James Dean. We would chat by phone (his cell phone in Baghdad had a 914 area code, as though he were only in Westchester). In one of those conversations, I wondered aloud why the Chinese restaurants were so popular with my friends in Iraq when, after all, in the Middle East diners should indulge in the authentic local cuisine of kebabs and hummus.

“It’s a taste of home,” Walter said. Even against the whirl of Medevac helicopters, Chinese food had become a beacon for American patriots. “What could be more American than beer and takeout Chinese?”

What is new, is the lack of respect that food is given. But this is natural in the day and age of industrialized crop and food production. We are so separated from our food sources that we can not relate to it. Food is, to most of us Americans, manufactured. And factories are not something we get close to.

This industrialization of crop and animal production has led to the industrialization in food production as well. We all know that the soul is far from mass production of anything, so what are we left with? Soulless food. Of course, this production model has also led to a meal judgment using the cost as a factor: the less expensive survives with the uneducated.

I say uneducated not meaning lack of academics. I mean that most people haven’t tasted good food in generations and the mediocrity in food quality and taste is what most are used to. The soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are now saying they can’t wait to get home to fast food cooking! In World War II, the GI’s wanted to get back to Mom’s cooking. Sad but true.

Why have we succumbed to this? Propaganda from the food manufacturers? Ease and speed? Cost? Too bad any one of these influenced us. We are susceptible to suggestion, esp. advertising when it is in the guise of the experts pronouncements. Maybe laziness? Could we be so lazy that we would rather have fast, bland, unhealthy food? Yeah, of course that’s a possibility. All of the above.

The Italian picture is a wonderful example of a passionate culture. And Italians are passionate about their food. But so are the French and many European cultures. They have been closer to their food production and preparation. They also have lived a slower life style than us Americans. Shorter work weeks, paid holidays, relaxed middle class. This all adds up to time to enjoy food and its preparation.

Why do we small, passionate, and crazy people get involved in “artisan” food preparation? Hard to tell. I’ll guess that it started at Mom’s table and her food standards. And for those of us who didn’t have that in our youth, that person crossed paths with someone who did.

Thank goodness for Mom!

food is a sacred gift, an art form, a way to express love and fellowship and if it isn’t prepared with this in mind it fails. i am baffled and mystified at the popularity of chain restaurants. what in the world are they providing that people find enticing?

my daughter went to italy and the chef personally erupted from the kitchen when she didn’t order enough, with a shout of ‘ what, you don’t lika my coooking?
it wasn’t about sales, it was about his desire to feed, to share his art, to provide pleasure.

thank goodness for small bakers like yourself and bread makers and restaurants that get that the bottom line is not the almighty dollar but the shared passion and enjoyment of the most important activity and art form in our lives.

thank you for representing!