Food and beverage isn’t a subculture—it is culture.
It is intimately interconnected with all aspects of life: art and craft; history and heritage; religion and ritual; politics and economics.
The things we eat and drink teach us about ourselves. You truly “are what you eat,” for food and drink is the basis for civilization itself.
Subsistence methods define the anthropological record, because this is how humans interact with and shape their world. As we cultivate our nourishment and share the fruits of these labors, we participate in the cosmic dance, marking with food and drink ritual and ceremony; celebration and sorrow; all the things that make a life.
Cuisine is also a powerful means of understanding others. In one taste, you are transported to a bustling street corner on a sticky Bangkok night; a Pacific Northwest forest, the scent of wet leaves and fresh pine filling your lungs; the clattering markets of Cairo, spiced aromas suspended in the hot, thick air; a verdant pasture in the Skagit Valley where cows graze lazily, blinking long-lashed into the sun; a Sunday dinner table laden with tureens of rich, savory dishes, warmly spiced aromas wafting from their carefully lifted lids.
Food and beverage, produced outside the corporate system by people who care, is more than just sustenance. It helps us understand our past, anchors us in the now, and bridges to a better tomorrow.