Salmon Commodification

Triggering Passages:

“The fine line between genders and species as it appears here presages the later depictions of encounters between classes of people as they will continue to take place in the spaces devoted to eating…can be seen as more than simply a desire to cling to the past; it is also a desire to cling to an embodied, orally authentic present” (Tompkins 2012 29, 35).

“And most important for Americans, this spice lust led to the discovery of the New World… Although European explorers, particularly the Dutch and Portuguese, would continue to search for new spice islands and spice routes to control the lucrative flow of the spice trade, by the nineteenth century, spices were no longer viewed as exotic” (Newman 2013 20, 21).

News Media Context:

 Trump’s TPP withdrawal: 5 things to know

 “Until Trump negotiates his own bargains, he’s betting he can reverse the decades-long trend of globalization.” http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/23/politics/trump-tpp-things-to-know/index.html

Discussions:

The public arena of eating has always been a place of discrimination and rejections. Tompkins points this out exceptionally well by addressing how the development of common areas devoted to socialization around food can force the mingling of classes. From Jim Crowe laws, to the recent Religious freedom acts, the performance of eating with and around varying class levels can be held as a deplorable act by those who hold the highest of class standings. This idea is continually embodied in present and past eating culture, the class which is seen as undeserving of shared space may change, or only added onto a long list of other classes already unwelcome.

Commodities, as pointed out in Newman’s second chapter, can directly be tied to the earliest forms of human exploration. In fact in many ways the search for commodities drives human exploration. But that search and exploration comes at huge cost, a cost, which is mostly billed to the country or peoples that the commodity is extracted from. That cost is a loss of monetary value, nutrient loss, and the export of identities (or cultural).

This action, an action against de-globalization is actually a good one. As a proponent against the TPP, I am mildly happy that Trump has ended our involvement. But this needs to be followed by policies that promote localization of products especially food. I will not act unconcerned for the countries that have built their economies on global trade, so although I feel compelled to give Trump a pat on the back, I will refrain until the extent of this action can be analyzed.

Works Citied

Bradner, Eric. “Trump’s TPP withdrawl: 5 things to know”. CNN. January 23 2017: Page (1). www.cnn.com. Web. January 23 2017.

Newman, Kara. The Secret Financial Life of Food: From Commodities Markets to Super Markets. New York: Columbia University Press, 2013. Print

Tompkins, Kyla W. Racial Indigestion: Eating Bodies in the 19^th Century. New York and London: New York University Press, 2012. Print

“All commodities are assigned a grade, so a standard is imposed on what is bought and sold. But that grade is often below what most consumers would choose to purchase. Corn is probably the most striking example-grain market specialist Chad Hart of Iowa State University refers to “food grade” versus “feed grade.”1 The former is sold as canned corn or ground into corn flakes; the latter is used to feed livestock and is distilled into ethanol.” (Newman 11)

In the society we live in it’s easy to forget that at all times, in every way, we are being graded. This passage “triggered” me because it relates to my experience at Evergreen. Being a individual at an alternative school and participating in an alternative learning process, makes it easier for me to see how grading food (like people) is HARMFUL. All food should be of the same quality, the same standard which is: healthy. Healthy soil, healthy nutrients, and healthy land. Just like our education system, our food system should be structured in a way that doesn’t depend on grades.

 

“ The insight that the act of eating dissolves the boundary between self and other, between subject and object is not mine alone, nor is the idea that eating is also a social practice that confirms and delineates difference, demarcating social barriers and affirming group formations” (Tompkins 4)

In my 8 credit program: Community Resilience Women Making Change. Our first week focused on the idea of cultures and how we are socialized into them. This passage connected me with the metaphor of the iceberg; in which like the iceberg the bulk of mass is underneath the water line. We are taught our individual culture’s customs mostly though non-verbal cues. And one of the non-verbal cues is the way we eat, how we eat together, individually, what we eat, what we use to eat with, and how we view eating. The social aspect of eating is one of the greatest socialization’s we learn, from early childhood on, and those eating activities are unique to each culture or family.

 

“As environmental sociologist, the analysis we offer in this book is in fundamental accord with Suzuki’s declaration. We are embedded in physical, ecological systems, but we have been changing them through our social, human-made systems, which have been organized to pursue specific interest. Social systems are sociohistorical products. Thus, they can be changed” (Longo, Clausen, Clark xii).

This is a passage from the Preface of the book I will be reading in regards to my personal project. As someone who reviews the idea of managing fishing as a social system and social problem, I am excited at what this book will offer in terms of solution and insights. Far too many times we forget that our Oceans are not just for physical scientist but also for social scientist to study as well. This is especially true when we are talking about fisheries management as it is a purely social construction.

 

“Last year, under then-Gov. Mike Pence (R), Indiana state police raided a voter registration center working to sign up black citizens. Pence, who also opposed a state law banning LGBTQ workplace discrimination, tweeted about MLK Day too” (Satlin).

This article had me at the title: Politicians Honor MLK Day While Working against the Rights He Fought For. One shining moment of the internet is the freeing up of information, including the idea that the internet forgets nothing! No longer can politicians say one thing, while behind closed doors doing the opposite. We must not forget this as we transition into the new era.

 

Works Citied

Clark, Brett; Clausen, Rebecca; and Longo, Stefano B. The Tragedy of the Commodity: Oceans, Fisheries, and Aquaculture. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2015. Print

Newman, Kara. The Secret Financial Life of Food: From Commodities Markets to Super Markets. New York: Columbia University Press, 2013. Print

Satlin, Alana H. “Politicians Honor MLK Day While Working Against The Rights He Fought For.” The Huffington Post January, 16 2017: Page (1). www.huffpost.com. Web. January, 16 2017.

Tompkins, Kyla W. Racial Indigestion: Eating Bodies in the 19^th Century. New York and London: New York University Press, 2012. Print