BRRRRRRRR!

I live in a part of the world where it is below freezing and dark much of the winter.  The Inuit might say that is a weak excuse to spend more time inside.  I may say I am going to go for a short walk in the cold after I get home from work but I never do it.  I readily admit I spend more time in front of a TV or a computer screen this time of year.  


Something I have discovered is TV programmers know that viewers like me and millions of others love to watch men and/or women do things that are physically tough.  There is no argument that sports are popular TV viewing.  How about shows like Dirty Jobs, Gold Rush Alaska, or Axe Men?  People actually watch those shows...I am one of them.  Americans love watching people get dirty and work with their hands.  It is a dying art in our country.  


This winter, I have been watching some interesting programming about people who work for their food.  The first is actually a video blog called The Perennial Plate.  It's about an internationally trained chef who takes a year from his career to explore where real food comes from and take part in harvesting it.

The Perennial Plate Episode 15: Farm to Market from Daniel Klein on Vimeo.


The next program I have become interested in is a show called Going Tribal.  This is a show about a former British Royal Marine who lives with primitive tribes of the world.  He participates in their rituals and their eating.  It is amazing to see how these cultures are pressured by outside forces of modern man. When their land's are encroached upon and their wild game is poached, they reluctantly have to resort to agriculture.  Their tradition and instinct is to hunt and gather.  That way of life is increasingly becoming unsustainable as they lose the land and wildlife they need to thrive.


The last show was introduced to me by Leroy.  The show is about an outdoors writer living in New York City.  The Wild Within  documents the travels of an avid outdoorsman who lives on the product of his hunt or catch.  His family eats no other meat than what he gets on his various excursions.  He is very respectful of these wild animals.  He would never dream of killing something without honoring it's existence by passing it on as a meal. 


Something I realize more every day is that you cannot take your food production for granted. When you do this, you forfeit your health to companies who are more concerned with profit than food quality.


CP