Po(sey) Sessions

This is me and my friend Sara: She is a farmer:  We live in Cedar City, Utah and Sara has taught me there is a very short growing season here. But Sara loves her farm. She started her Community Supported Agriculture farm when she was 13! For the past four years, I have had the opportunity to attend a farm to fork dinner at a local CSA. For myself and Mr. X these experiences have been transformative, especially in progressing into new chapters of food exploration. Last summer I was able to document some of the experience beyond the plate and gain insight into the mind of the chef and farmer, Sara Patterson. Sara is passionate about local ingredients and quality products. She started farming at a young age and carries her passion like a banner. She eagerly connects with local farmers and growers to find the best and most interesting ingredients. Watching Sara shop for the farm dinner is like watching an ehtnobotanist in action, and she doesn't even know it. She sh...

“Jack Goody has likened eating alone to defecating in public (1982:306) because of the absence of the social in meeting essentially biological needs.” Eugene Cooper ( 1986 ) Chinese Table Manners: You Are How You Eat. Human Organization: Summer 1986, Vol. 45, No. 2, pp. 179-184. For those of us that have ever been single, these words add a whole new level of shame to the practice is eating a microwave dinner standing at the kitchen counter. There is solace in those moments, at times. But equal amount of shame. Maybe the first three times it is liberating, and the next three hundred is confirmation of body shame because we as humans allow ourselves to feel hunger. In American culture, consumption of food continues to be a sinful act. Food for humans ends up having so many functions. It is fuel, it is a way to socialized, it is a way to create an identity, and it is a tool to identify others. Eating carries with it a large amount of social and cultural significance which...