Ideology of Japanese Cuisine is my latest essay, and it takes a look at the relationship between harmony, fantasy, and reality–delicious food, environmental difficulties, public self and private self, the whole nine yards.

Let’s just say that Tanizaki was right when he wrote, In Praise of Shadows.

Closer to home, there is a strong consumer movement that acts with legislators to try to create laws that might be of benefit.  There isn’t enough transparency, not by a long shot, but the public-private bifurcation is smaller in the U.S., which means that people are often willing to express ideas and observations that disrupt harmony.

Imagine a movie called, Jiro Dreams of Sustainability, and you catch my drift.  And I don’t mean drift net fishing.

So let’s just say that it would be informative, to say the least, if writers about culture and cuisine–any culture and any cuisine–included data on the environmental context of what’s on the plate.  Otherwise, it’s decadent, it’s like enjoying diamonds without acknowledging the miners, appreciating cotton (back in the day) while ignoring slave labor.