Sitopia. Jak jedzenie może ocalić świat

by Carolyn Steel, Agnieszka Szling (Translator), Paweł Bravo (Foreword)

Szacunek do jedzenia to coś dużo więcej niż radość z organicznej marchewki czy kawałka dobrego sera; to nasza jedyna droga przeżycia.



Dlaczego jedzenie uratuje świat? Bo wszyscy jemy. Bo gotując i jedząc wspólnie, dowodzimy swojego człowieczeństwa. Bo proces produkcji jedzenia ma ogromy wpływ na planetę i na nasze zdrowie, a zmieniając nasze menu, możemy uratować świat i pomóc sobie nawzajem.

Industrializacja osłabiła lub nawet zerwała nasze więzi z naturą. Bogaci są coraz bogatsi i szczuplejsi, a biedni, nie mając czasu i pieniędzy, jedzą tanie przetworzone jedzenie co ma ogromny, negatywny wpływ na ich zdrowie. Carolyn Steel ostrzega, że jeśli nie zsynchronizujemy się z naturą na wzór naszych przodków i nie zmienimy swojego stosunku do tego, co i jak jemy – zniszczymy naszą planetę bezpowrotnie.

W siedmiu rozdziałach, poświęconych odpowiednio zagadnieniom jedzenia, ciała, domu, społeczeństwa, miasta i wsi, natury oraz czasu autorka zastanawia się nad rolą i wartością pożywienia i nad naszym stosunkiem do niego. „Szacunek do jedzenia […] to nasza jedyna droga przeżycia.” - pisze. Dlatego marzy o samożywiących się miastach z ogrodami na dachach i farmami wertykalnymi, analizuje poglądy starożytnych filozofów i osiągnięcia współczesnej nauki. W skrócie - marzy o sitopii. Dobra sitopia to naturalnie zeroemisyjne społeczeństwo, ponieważ całe pożywienie wywodzi się z natury, a dobre praktyki rolnicze dbają o naturalne cykle ekologiczne i je naśladują.



Nie uczą tego w szkole, ale intuicja moralna ci podpowiada, że możesz mieć dobre życie tylko jeśli zatroszczysz się o swój świat. Niekoniecznie jednak wiesz, co możesz zrobić, zaczynając od swojej kuchni, spiżarni, lodówki, zamiast czekać aż ktoś znów wymyśli za nas uniwersalne rozwiązanie. Które jak wszystko co uniwersalne, jest dobre dla wszystkich a zatem dla nikogo. Słusznie zatem dałeś się skusić przez tę książkę. Zacznij od siebie, zacznij czytać.

Paweł Bravo [fragment wstępu]

Genres: Food, Nonfiction, Sustainability, Science, Politics, Economics, Environment

416 pages, Paperback

Published April 30, 2021

Reviews

[Kab · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF 8%

1.5 She invokves fucking Malthus in chapter 1, extending the idea that reproduction rates and the 'lack of infrastrucutre' are responsible for hunger and food waste in the Global South, deflecting blame from neo/colonialist capture, wealth extraction, and exploitation. She has some puzzle pieces with decent stats but misplaces them amidst her noodling with an onslaught of what dead white men have spouted.

'Having had the temerity to mention food, death and morality all in the same breath, Malthus is, perhaps inevitably, the figure around which the ‘feed the world’ debate tends to galvanise. By raising the issue of population, he ventured into territory that for many remains taboo even today. Yet to discuss how we should eat without addressing the question of population is at best limited and at worst meaningless, since the two problems are so obviously connected. Malthus may have been a doom-mongering pessimist, but his theory is yet to be proven wrong. However responsibly we farm, fish, hunt or gather, our appetites continue to shape the planet and affect the life chances of us and our fellow earthlings.'

While previously in the chapter:

'Factory farming, by contrast, is almost comically inefficient. One third of the global grain harvest is now fed to animals, food which, if we ate it directly, could feed up to ten times as many people.

'To compound matters, we’re not great at managing the food that we do produce. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), farmers worldwide currently provide the daily equivalent of 2,800 calories of food per person – more than enough to go round, given an ideal food system.'

'...if Western nations limited their food supplies to just 130 per cent of their nutritional needs and developing states could reduce post-harvest losses to levels similar to those in the developed world, one third of the global food supply could be saved, enough to feed the world’s hungry twenty-three times over.

[Maarten · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an important book for anyone working in food to read now, in times of (corona) crisis.

There is a lot of talk about what 'the world after corona' could be. And also - probably justified - a lot of criticism about the idea that the world "after corona" will be significantly different from the one we had before. Nevertheless, this current pandemic makes a number of existing crises in the world more visible that need more attention. Inequality, underpaid essential jobs and specifically in the world of food: a global dependence on a food system that is unsustainable in the long run, because it is too dependent on unsustainable inputs like cheap labour, oil and fertilizers.

This book forces the reader to rethink how utopian we may be when we think about the future of the world. The central question is: "What would the world be like if we appreciated food again?". Carolyn Steel takes us down this rabbit hole, visiting great philosophers and contemporary thinkers, entrepreneurs and activists along the way.

The book is divided into seven chapters, from close to the individual to larger and more abstract: Food, Body, Home, Society, City and Countryside, Nature, Time.

It is not a light read. I tried to finish the book in a week because I had a conversation about the book planned on a specific date. That did not work for me and it is probably not the best way to read this book. A chapter a week and a lot of reflecting/ digesting works better.

[kimera · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mydło i powidło, a to wszystko byle jakiej jakości. Trochę jak u ucznia, który wpada do biblioteki, obczaja cokolwiek, co chociaż w niewielkim stopniu dotyka tematu pracy i finalnie przedstawia zebrany materiał bez złożenia go wcześniej w spójną całość. Błędy waliły po oczach już w pierwszym rozdziale...
Rzucam w diabły mniej więcej w 1/3.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am conflicted in rating this book as for the first 2/3rds I loved it. Superb ideas intelligently rendered. However, this book is like trying to eat the chocolate cake in Matilda: just too rich and in too great a volume. The end portion is also... how do I put this... incredibly depressing. Steel outlines all the ways the planet is doomed. Desperately I was hoping for solutions, but no. Unless I was a dictator over the entire world it seems pretty impossible to change anything meaningful due to the dominance of capitalism and lack of international cooperation. Call me naive, but I was hoping for practical advice for how to save the planet on a smaller scale.

[Matthijs · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite its planetary scope and ambitions, Sitopia has a decidedly marginal focus, treating us to predominantly Western thought and development on the topic of food and with a clear Anglo-Saxon (or only British) audience in mind. Steel has read a lot on a large variety of topics, including philosophy, economic history, anthropology, sociology, architecture and biology, and overwhelms her reader with a vast array of knowledge and insights. As interesting as her personal library may be, a significant part of the book simply has little to no relevance to her main topic. The disarray of knowledge and arguments is only heightened by the diffusion of its chapters into short essays, varying from dry academic pieces, to personal accounts and short book summaries.

While I don't dispute the interconnectedness of food with so many aspects of life and living, I found myself plodding through the book in search for actual relevant insights and ideas into how the human relationship with food should and could change, globally. I think I would have much more enjoyed reading this had Steel trimmed her book thoroughly to reveal its essence. Instead, the reader is treated to an overgrown forest of ideas, which one can only enter with a pretty large machete.

[Ewa (humanizmowo) · Rating 4 out of 5]

W sumie to jestem usatysfakcjonowana po przeczytaniu tej książki, bo dostałam to czego chciałam. Dużo faktów, o których nie miałam pojęcia i nawet się nad tym nie zastanawiałam.

[Noemi]

I tried. This is a look at food through the lenses of society, but the reach is just too broad. I can appreciate the work being done, but referencing to Aristotle and Rousseau and Harari on literally every page just isn't cutting it for me. I keep asking myself where is this going. And then, when the author states her own facts I'm asking myself : isn't that just an opinion? Could it be brought up in a more nuanced manner?

Don't misunderstand me. EVERYTHING was interesting. It's just not linear enough to keep me going.

This might not be a definitive DNF but for now I'll just have to put it aside.

[M A H THOMLINSON · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweeping. Many interesting sections, good arguments, and food for thought- including a few dabs of philosophy. Very well researched but betrayed by the chatty style. Made it very readable, but also less convincing.

[Mariana Garrido · Rating 3 out of 5]

Food for thought, mas não satisfaz totalmente. Sitopia traz reflexões interessantes e comprovadamente urgentes sobre o que comemos e a nossa relação com o que nos liga e o que liga a terra ao prato. Ao longo da leitura, é impossível não parar para refletir sobre os sistemas alimentares que dominam grande parte do nosso mundo e sobre a nossa relação com a produção e qualidade da nossa alimentação. Rapidamente percebemos, como provavelmente já suspeitávamos quando escolhemos ler este livro, que o papel da comida nas nossas vidas é muito mais do que insignificante. A comida é uma fonte de vida, bem-estar, conforto e pertença, paz e partilha, como também pode ser todo o seu contrário.

A maioria da argumentação do livro parte de bases filosóficas que ajudam a dissertar sobre a escassez dos recursos e a qualidade e efemeridade da vida - tanto que nem sempre parece um livro sobre comida. Mas é mesmo, e é fácil entender porque é que comida, no fundo, é tudo. As referências usadas são, contudo, quase totalmente eurocêntricas e masculinas, o que embora se justifique pelas origens e percurso da autora, podia ser bem enriquecido por diferentes ecologias do saber, nomeadamente do Sul Global, com experiência quotidiana e contribuições importantes para uma gestão sustentável dos recursos alimentares.

No que diz respeito a soluções, Carolyn Steel, arquiteta de formação, traz vários exemplos inovadores sobre como reformular as cidades e transformar a nossa relação entre o mundo rural e urbano para criar essa Sitopia ideal. Exemplos interessantes, mas que pecam por serem a pequena escala e não proporem uma mudança estrutural com base em políticas públicas - que teriam, queiramos ou não, de ter a coragem de ser radicais. Embora haja no livro uma crítica inerente ao capitalismo e ao sistema alimentar por ele criado, as alternativas apresentadas são timidamente anticapitalistas (roçando até o malthusianismo e anticomunismo em algumas linhas).

Ainda assim, uma leitura importante a que valerá a pena regressar. Demorou a ser lido e deixará reflexões por mais tempo ainda.

[Marc Buckley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carolyn Steel is a wonderful person and an amazing author who provides the accurate big history of food in the city and multiple ways food affects every part of our lives specifically how it has shaped up in cities. Her book Sitopia means Food Place. My favorite quote from Carolyn that is so true, "To Cheapen Food is to Cheapen Life!" To find out see my interview with Carolyn on my Video Podcat Please Subscribe and like. https://youtu.be/eq-nQifAU-Y

Or check out the link below:

https://www.innovatorsmag.com/inside-...

[Mats-Laes Nuter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't imagine anyone for whom I'd NOT recommend this read. Steel, as an architect, goes way beyond food as matter and dips quite quickly into sociology, philosophy, psychology and the lot - everything you wouldn't imagine is strongly connected to food. It's masterfully written and enjoyable to read, rich with science, interesting history and great theories to keep rolling on in your head once you've finished this book. It is not a fast read, as has been mentioned by others - you can't read too much of it at one go because there's a lot to digest (pun intended).

[Anne Thewissen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soms weet je tijdens het lezen van een boek al dat het zo een exemplaar is dat je aan al je vrienden zal aanraden totdat ze het niet meer kunnen horen. Dit is dat boek. Voedsel vormt de rode draad doorheen dit prachtige relaas over onze filosofische toekomst als mens op deze aarde, hoe we met tijd en de dood om kunnen gaan en voornamelijk hoe we terug de band tussen de natuur en de mens kunnen vinden.

[Dosia]

Mieszane wrażenia. Z jednej strony wielość kontekstów, nurtów i ciekawostek imponuje. Z drugiej strony, przy takim osobistym stylu pisania spodziewałabym się wyraźniejszego zaznaczenia stanowiska autorki. Mimo wszystko, przyzwoita pożywka dla myśli i ciekawe źródło przyszłych lektur.

[Eden Breslauer-Friedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. So much validation on how I feel about the world but got a lost a bit towards the end.

[Anjana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book contains more fodder for thought than I expected from a book about ‘food’. The content picks off from the author’s previous work which I have not had the opportunity to read, but I just might.


The chapters are widely divided into the following criteria: food, body, home, society, city and country, nature and time. Each chapter then does an in-depth drill into the past, the present and the future of trends, possibilities and sensibilities of the people of the time.
It was a fascinating book that I could (for once) read at a stretch if time worked in my favour. I had to surface once in a while to spout any relevant, interesting point to anyone within listening distance. I cannot talk of individual facts because there’d be too many; one can use this as a call to reexamine trends of consumption. The author talks of how access to and requirement of food for sustenance helped design civilization.


The sources of information are straightforward and elaborate. It is a book I would highly recommend to people on the lookout for a well-written introspective book about how food continues to shape us and how we might want to take an active role in shaping our behaviour in that regard to save our futures.


The book does not look at anything with rose-coloured glasses and has a lot of hard truths within it, and the content will take a while to digest completely (if one can ignore the bad, unintentional pun here).

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience.

[Celina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Initially I wanted to give this book more than “just” 3 stars because of the theme and the overall idea Carolyn Steel presents, as it’s obviously a desired state. Also, I applaud the amounts of research behind the book.

My reasons for not giving more stars are:

1) There is too much packed into one book, making me feel lost here and there (why it took me so long to read).

2) The idea of a Sitopia, as mentioned, is desired, however, very idealistic and one-sided. There’s a very negative portrayal of our current society and of capitalism that I think weakens the overall argument.

3) In my opinion, although making a case for a Sitopian society it lacks concrete suggestions to actually get there.

I do think I will be returning to this book in the future because it has a lot of ideas that I think we should strive towards, but I wish it was stronger in its argument.

[Rosie Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strong first half, which tapers off a little as it broadens (perhaps too much) in scope. Focuses on Western, canonical philosophers and academics, which makes it feel quite limited, especially as many grassroots food and landworkers movements (traditional and contemporary) have emerged globally, with their own individual identities. It might be my particular political leanings, but the colonial dimension and intersection of globalised food markets, environmental degradation and human rights issues are not particularly well interrogated, and ends up feeling like the elephant in the room.

[Alfi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the approach. I like how the author brought the reader's attention in the early chapters. I don't know, in the midway, I lost my interest to finish this book. It has a broad topic, difficult to concentrate on. Perhaps it's just me. The topic is too broad and this book has to be read when you are not in hurry, take your time to digest. But I like the topic, it's about the how we solve our food problem in this crisis era.

[Liesleest · Rating 1 out of 5]

Uitgangspunt dat voedsel onze wereld vormgeeft is boeiend. Maar het sterk Amerikaanse activisme en de wetenschappelijke onnauwkeurigheid maken dit tot een boek om snel weer opzij te leggen.

[Satid · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author says in the beginning that this book is a philosophical discussion on how to live a good life and she does this through the lens of food culture. But it appears to me that the content of the book is not quite faithful to its stated intent. The author spend far more pages discussing about cultural and socioeconomic history of the western society than about how food can save the world which occupies much fewer pages. And the summaries of the chapters that come down to food draw mixed understanding for me as some appear convincing while others are like the author tries to put a square peg into a round hole.

The author's writing style is conducive to understanding and I like the way she refers to several other books I have already read or have in my to-read stack. But this means that I already understood some points the author tries to make by reference. But other readers of this book will end up knowing what additional books they want to pursue further to understand more about the matters discussed in this book.

In summary, I appreciate a few ideas the author tries to make but I hope the author would have done better in discussing with more relevant substance how food can save the world and how world-wide societies should do more to make this work. This book serves as a good start but we need a better book that leads readers to fruition about food sensibility and security.

[Cliff.Hanger.Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Home is a response to landscape formed by an idea of how to live. It is always shaped by food: if one lives by gathering berries and hunting bison, for example, ones home is going to look very different to that of someone who farms. We inhabit the world according to our inherited culture, the cumulative results of generations of our ancestors efforts to survive in certain terrains”

Carolyn Steel makes a case to rethink our cities as places not only for the detached consumption of food, but of mindful cultivation. If you haven’t given much thought to how much the food we consume says about the world we live in you should read this book. If you been obsessed with the subject like I am, it won’t be a disappointment, she has her moments. You might though, find it repetitive if you have read Pollan, Barber and Harari, she builds a lot on them

[Hanneke Mwk · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took me a long time to get through. I was excited about the book when it came out as I liked Hungry city (previous book by same author). This book however, is more of a mixed bag. I feel the middle part of the book (chapter 4 and 5 on society, city and countryside) is the strongest part with the most original ideas for transforming the food system. Perhaps not coincidentally, these themes correspond to the subject of Hungry city.

Earlier and later chapter sometimes read as a quite random tour through white male Western philosophy in which the author's secular, Western worldview is pervasive. I did not find this helpful to tease out inspiring ideas for transforming the food system to a sustainable version. All in all, it feels as if the scope of the book was too wide. This makes the gems that are in there hard(er) to find.

[Snorki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of interesting ideas in there but not quite a compelling read. I liked the idea of food being central to so much of what makes us human, and there is lots of research and analysis presented in an accessible way. However, it did feel just a little bit disjointed - the scope is large and perhaps that is some of the challenge - Carolyn covers a huge area without quite tying all the elements together. And as others have commented, it’s quite pessimistic in terms of spending a lot of time talking about the problems, but not offering much in the way of solutions. But definitely an interesting book, and I am glad that I read it - felt that I learned some things, and it’s left me with some things to think about, which is always a good sign.

[Eliza · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5* This book taught me that I like Carolyn Steele. However, it also taught me that I read the wrong text. I should have gone for Hungry City. Because here the parts that were truly about food and agriculture were brilliant. The other half of the book - the ingredients to the dish called “Sitopia” - were coherent, but of no interest to me. Others might find them more meaningful, but I must agree with another goodreads reviewer who said that at times the book feels “chatty”. It does. But again, even if I appreciated only 50% of it, it’s a worthy book and I will surely pick up Hungry City in the near future. Hope even to meet fellow architect Carolyn Steele.

[Chris Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes, I thought it was alright. I didn't glean any particular blinding insight from the book but there will be bits that I'll remember when I'm engaged in some future pub debate. I thought it was a bit British, a bit hippy and some of the arguments were a bit contradictory - industrial farming - bad, farming in buildings in completely artificial conditions in New York - good

Some of the chapters I thought were well constructed and reasoned, others I simply read; if you had been to quiz me about their content 10 minutes later I'd have been at a loss. But, as I said, alright, not bad.

Oh, and clearly written with a nice turn of phrase.

[Krystian Woźniak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carolyn Steel touches vast topic about our relationship with food. Unfortunately, she falls into the trap of bombarding the reader with a multitude of facts and ideas. I am not an expert on a topic so I cannot argue more with the presented arguments or how she uses her references or ideas. Nonetheless, the book gives a lot of insightful information and maybe it is not presenting specific ideas or they are not shown enough, but the general attitude and main thought are.

I would also look at the various ideas presented by the author on how we can tackle our relationship with food by the "chose your weapon" scheme, everybody can find their way of making a change.

[Chris Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Food history books are my niche. This is not so much history as philosophy and I really liked some of the ideas here. There is a lot covered in this book, with some very interesting ideas discussed about how we tackle the issue of climate change. What is done really well is that the ideas are presented as exciting, positive and possible. There is a lot to do to get the world on board with this plan, but it genuinely made me eager for the future again. I feel very grateful for what I have and this made me remember what I really value.

[Myrthe Moes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interessante (en voor mij nieuwe) lens om naar de wereld te kijken. Interessant om te lezen hoe we onze huizen, steden en samenleving hebben ingericht op ons voedselgebruik.

Ben dit boek gaan lezen na een lezing van Carolyn Steel en ze schrijft zoals ze spreekt; een beetje chaotisch. Ze gebruikt inzichten van bekende filosofen en ideeën uit bijvoorbeeld literatuur, architectuur en politiek. Door al deze verschillende perspectieven en veelheid aan informatie vond ik het af en toe moeizaam lezen.

Sowieso aanrader!!

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Sitopia’ is not another boring policy book. Steel draws on sources as diverse as ‘The Epic of Gilgamesh’ to the latest reported findings (whether global or local); she draws on philosophy (whether ancient or more modern!) and science and always remembers to bring the discussion back to lived experience and, of course, to food. Firmly rooted in the discourse it seeks to examine ‘Sitopia’ is a brilliant way in to a global conversation that is still going on and opens the door to other thinkers while very calmly making its own case for a way forward using the evidence.

Now, if you’ll excuse me - I’m off to keep finding out more and try living a little differently.


***I received a Net Galley copy of this book and this is a honest review***

[Celine Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was quite informative and I learned a lot about food, its role in the history of mankind, and the current state of its supply chain. I took quite a long time to finish the book as there were so many facts and ideas to get through. However, I didn't feel empowered after reading this; on the contrary, I felt quite pessimistic as many of the ideas in the book are on a macro, national or global scale, and sound too idealistic to be possible in the current world.