THE WAY WE EAT AND DRINK HAS CHANGED DRAMATICALLY OVER THE PAST ¢£ YEARS.
The industrialization of agriculture, proliferation of fast food restaurants, morphing of neighbourhood grocery stores into big-box supermarkets, omnipresence of chain restaurants, emergence of wine into mainstream society, rise of celebrity chefs & somms, democratization of travel allowing for greater exposure to international cultures and cuisines, food tv, cultural appropriation, availability of ingredients, fad-diets, the microwave, veganism, gluten-free, GMO, the return to butter from margarine, tasting menus, criminalization of carbs, meal kits, dine-out culture, re-emergence of farmers’ markets, organic / biodynamic / sustainable / regenerative farming, natural wines, cultural appreciation, transparency in labelling, a lack of transparency in labelling, nose-to-tail, ancient grains, and let’s not forget spending more time photographing and posting your food than eating it.
We can’t expect things to stay the same, nor should we. Innovation through technology, education, experience, aspiring for something more, choosing to be dierent, discovery, being dissatised with the status quo, or simply evolution due to time will always result in change. Sometime for the better….and sometimes not.
Philosophically though, it seems that many are reconnecting with a simpler ideal of food and wine. More people do want to know where their food comes from and the people responsible for growing, selling and cooking it. After a decade of wine extremism where people were either drinking industrialized, sugar-laden swill or faulty, intensely volatile natural wines, there seems to be a calming and return to appreciating well made, minimal intervention, sustainably farmed and produced wines that reect their respective sites, styles and grape varieties.
The way we drink wine has denitely changed. Wine is more accessible than it has ever been. Quality has improved dramatically and there are great wines being grown around the globe. Who is drinking wine has also changed as wine consumers and members of the wine industry more accurately reect the multicultural and multidimensional world in which we live (although we still have a long way to go).
In this 50th anniversary issue of Quench, we ask “can food save the world?” I believe it can. There may not be a better way to connect with and learn about dierent people and cultures. Food and wine are simply extensions of a country’s, a region’s, an individual’s lifestyle and history - a microcosm of society – good, bad, nasty, beautiful – with all of its merits and faults. I’ve always believed that wine and food get their context from people, place, culture and history. What better gateway to experience all that this culturally diverse and fascinating world has to oer than through food and wine.
The social and economic signicance of a vibrant culinary culture to a community cannot be overstated. Please take the opportunity to meet and speak with the chefs, farmers, cheese mongers, butchers, bakers, winemakers, and wine merchants in your community, hear their stories, learn what inspires them and discover why I rmly believe that you can taste their passion in their creations and wares.
In cultures around the world, to feed someone is an expression of love. Some of my fondest memories are in the kitchen with my mom. This issue of Quench is dedicated to the memory of my mom and to all those who make sure that we never go hungry, who comfort us with our favourite dishes and who pass down the family history, the essence of who we are, through food.