In the American children's classic Charlotte's Web, spring pig Wilbur learns that his goal on the farm is to be raised and killed for pork in the coming months. Distressed by his fate, Wilbur seeks to free himself from anyone who can help him. Charlotte, a cunning but loving barnyard spider, offers to help Wilbur escape from the dinner table. She uses her web to give Wilbur a new place on the farm; not only is it tasty, but also formidable, radiant and humble. Charlotte makes Wilbur look like a pig with her web, and the humans in the story agree with her. The pig is not only delivered to the table, but also receives a medal at the county fair for being exceptional (White, 1952).Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original EssayThe story of Charlotte's Web is a tender children's fable and work of fiction. However, there is a surprising reality captured in Charlotte's sticky threads. The complex food web we live in today has also dissociated us from the places, both geographic and existential, where our food comes from. We struggle to find our place in the world, in part because we have forgotten where the things we consume are located in the world. Dissociating people from their diet is not only idiotic (like in the story mentioned above), but also contributes to a host of societal woes. Reconnecting with the food we eat will restore a sense of belonging not only in the food web, but in the world at large. It is imperative, before exploring the social implications of food web dissociation, to define what it means, and so we will start from the beginning. The first threads of the human food web were woven when the first humans began to eat. Small family groups of hunter-gatherers sought whatever was available for their subsistence. This is the most basic human food web. The first major innovation in this system occurred around 13,000 years ago, when Mesopotamian clans abandoned nomadic hunting and gathering and turned to more stable, stationary agriculture (Chronology of Agriculture). A few thousand years later, goats, pigs, and sheep were domesticated, expanding the agricultural food web to a wide dietary diversity. People planted, irrigated, weeded, and harvested their plant foods. They gave birth, protected, nourished, nourished and butchered their meat. This model allowed humanity to feed itself for several millennia. The next major development in the human food web came with the advent of complex trade-based societies. As more and more people gathered in ancient cities, the idea of ​​trade between neighbors became the foundation for the success of urban civilization. However, commerce has also become the fundamental agent of dissociation between individuals and what they consume. As blacksmiths, potters, weavers, and tradesmen became established places in society, the food web expanded to feed them. However, due to limitations in food transportation and preservation, the level of dissociation remained relatively low for about 10,000 years. For example, on August 25, 1790, Martha Ballard prepared a meal of baked lamb with fresh vegetables and whole wheat rolls for her family in Augusta, Maine (Martha). Shelived in the same basic food web that had been in place for millennia; Martha's husband operated a grain mill for local farmers and she was the town midwife. This work allowed him to barter with local farmers for the lamb and whole wheat flour used in his meal. The Ballard family also grew two large fresh fruit and vegetable gardens and raised a dairy cow, chickens, turkeys and, occasionally, a spring pig. Maintaining the health of these food sources required constant vigilance, and the Ballard children were often sent to the bean field to squash pesky insects or to the chicken coop with a bowl of table scraps for the chickens. Such a lifestyle instilled in the Ballard children a concrete awareness of where their lambs, fresh vegetables, and whole-wheat rolls came from. This experience was very similar to that of Fern, from Charlotte's Web, who, at the age of seven, had to face the grim reality of the fate of the little spring pigs (White, 1952). If the classical market system allowed people to feed themselves and stay close to their food for over 10,000 years, what changed that took people away from these barnyard experiences? How did the human family take food as it really is – the living plants and animals we eat to survive – and weave it to the far reaches of our food web ? Ann Vileisis, writer and historian, explores this evolution of the human-food relationship in her book Kitchen Literacy (2008). Vileisis illustrates how several innovations in transportation technologies, refrigeration, and large-scale agriculture changed the way people eat in America. She recognizes that railroads, canals, and locomotives expanded the geography of the food web during the first three decades of the 19th century, expanding the average distance from farm to food within a fifteen-mile radius of the eater up to fifteen hundred miles (p. 37). Then, changing social expectations of women in the early 20th century, which wanted them to be better educated, better cultured, and more devoted to their children, further ostracized people from their diet. Moms simply did not have enough time to complete household chores and conform to the new ideals of motherhood. At the turn of the century, most Americans were too busy chasing the American dream to worry about such mundane things as preparing meals. Adaptations in food production and marketing have solidified the ongoing cultural shift. In the top image, a seller prepares a piece of meat for his customer in the same way as in the 18th century. The bottom image is a 1902 advertisement for Gustavus Swift's meatpacking company. Swift revolutionized the meat processing industry by slaughtering cows in Chicago meat plants and transporting steaks to any home in the continental United States. Its shipping model replaced the outdated idea of ​​shipping live heifers in crowded, dangerous and inefficient livestock trailers. As the images show, butchers in the past advertised their meats based on the animals they came from. According to Vileisis, it was common for a customer to ask questions about the life, growth and disposition of the animals their butcher was preparing for sale. The practice of market surveying, however, became obsolete in the 20th century because people did not see the animals from which their meat came. The business model ofSwift produced less damaged meats at a cheaper price, so consumers eventually accepted its pre-cut, government-inspected, finely packaged cuts of beef. It was the packaging, not the knife, that severed the connection between us and our meats. The expansion of the food web has continued until today, where the average tomato swaps hands 8 times before ending up in our "homemade" salsa (B. Cox, personal communication, circa 2005). Essays, books, documentaries, protest speeches, and Supreme Court decisions have all been written to address the myriad environmental, health, and business implications of our vast new food web, but I have not found in my searches no conversation about what I believe I am. be a more worrying consequence than popular tickets. How has food dissociation contributed to the loss of a sense of belonging to things larger than ourselves? Investigative journalist Michael Pollan recently discussed the role of food in our grounding in reality with Oprah, on her show Supersoul Sunday (Winfrey). In this interview, Pollan recalled a childhood experience he had in his grandfather's garden. “It was magical to me,” he commented, “that we could put these little things [seeds] in the ground and they could grow into plants and more! Pollan explained that his wonder and fascination fostered in him a sense of openness, rather than just "me-me-me all the time." If most Americans don't experience these moments of wonder: what kind of people are we becoming? The answers are often most evident in the extremes, and the people most dissociated from natural dietary processes are those who live in highly concentrated urban areas. . Because poverty restricts opportunities to travel to more rural places and experiences, inner-city populations are particularly cut off from reality by today's food web. Additionally, many of these crime-prone areas are referred to as "food deserts" because crime risks deter large food market chains from investing in nearby storefronts (USDA). This in itself is an indication of the unstable social climate that exists in city centers. If Pollan's experiment about the outdoors born in the soil is true on a general scale, then gardening for inner-city populations will foster a sense of belonging in the outdoor community among participants and reduce violent crime. Gardening programs for young people in disadvantaged neighborhoods are growing. a step towards this change. In Oakland, Navy veteran Kelly Carlisle organized the Acta Non Verba gardening program. Children and youth in downtown Oakland can help grow their own fruits and vegetables and sell additional produce to save money for their future. Carlisle was inspired to start the garden when she returned to Oakland after active duty and found that her neighborhood had a 40 percent high school dropout rate and was on the FBI's Top Ten Most Dangerous Cities list. She was a master gardener and found peace and identity in gardening. In his words, Carlisle wanted his garden to be “[a place] where young people could learn about nutrition, food and themselves” (Carlisle). This dream has come true. Since the garden's first season in 2011, hundreds of children (like Jarome, pictured here) have come to learn, work, play andeat together in the Acta Non Verba garden. Kelly Carlisle isn't the only one connecting people to their food. Will Allen, a former professional basketball player and businessman, also organized a gardening program to help children in his Milwaukee neighborhood find their place in the food web. “It's more than just putting a plant in the ground,” Allen says in a short documentary about his agricultural project, Growing Power. “The kids who come here are connected. And they bounce off the walls. But as soon as I put a little soil in their hands, they calm down. So there is something very spiritual about touching the ground” (Winfrey). This soothing, calming effect is what Allen, Carlisle and others hope will nurture a stronger sense of importance and self-worth in children growing up in dangerously underexposed neighborhoods. I have personally seen the power of helping people find a place of value in producing food. Forgotten Angels, a mental health rehabilitation center in Pearland, Texas, has seen the potential benefits of gardening for its residents. However, the work required to start the project was beyond their means, so the volunteer organization I was with in town organized a series of work days clearing fields, building planters, hauling soil and mulch and perform various other heavy tasks. Once the foundation was laid, residents with various mental and cognitive disabilities were given the chance to grow food that they then sold at a local farmers' market. I've never seen anyone more excited to talk about peas than Chris, a resident with hydrocephalus. "Look!" » he said one week, brandishing his planter of freshly sprouted pea plants. “They’re growing!” As my group returned week after week, I could see that Chris was growing with his peas. He was able to share something of value that he had helped create. His communication has become more intelligible and more relevant. He learned the very practical skill of turning the garden hose on and off. And as Will Allen described, Chris found remarkable peace when he was able to spend time in the ground with his peas. Officer Kathleen Green also started a garden as part of a rehabilitation program – only her office is at the Eastern Correctional Institution of Maryland, the state prison. If anyone has lost their sense of place in society, it is prisoners. Once found guilty, they are punitively ripped from their dark cobwebs of criminal life and thrown into the prison system with no connections, no support, and no place to belong. Imprisonment could be considered cruelty; Officer Green prefers to think of this as a new beginning. “These guys have probably never seen anything come out of the ground,” she explained in an interview with the Washington Post. “It’s something powerful for them” (Roselwald, 2015). Prisoners can repay their debt to the state with the fruits (and vegetables) of their labor, and this opportunity engenders a feeling of appreciation for the officers who allow them to work in the prison garden. Their new relationship is not based on criminality, but on civility. New threads of cooperation, work, humility, interdependence, respect and legality are beginning to replace the old cobwebs of crime. Inmates are able to weave a new and improved social network by discovering the food web they have always been a part of. As has been illustrated, food dissociation contributes to several problems2-064