Sheltering: Marie Mutsuki Mockett on Food Waste and Farming
In today’s episode of Sheltering, Maris Kreizman talks to Marie Mutsuki Mockett, author of American Harvest: God, Country, and Farming in the Heartland, an extraordinary evocation of the land and a thoughtful exploration of ingrained beliefs, from evangelical skepticism of evolution to cosmopolitan assumptions about food production and farming. Mockett talks about the mass destruction of food happening right now (3.7 million gallons of milk being dumped every day), feeling the intense need to plant vegetables for herself, and having to challenge her friends’ notions of what a farm is. One of Mockett’s favorite local bookstores is Point Rey Books: please purchase American Harvest through their website or through Bookshop.
From the episode:
Maris Kreizman: Is there a question you would have hoped to be asked, that I can ask you now?
Marie Mutsuki Mockett: A question I do get asked is—what do I hope people will get from the book? Another one I get a lot that I have not answered successfully is, “How do we bridge the cultural divide?” Because the book is a lot about the cultural divide, they want bullet points, a takeaway.
I believe in books and the power of literature and writers, but I have said, look, I’m not a politician or a pundit and I’m not comfortable distilling the book into simple bullet points. I hope that it shows people a way in which I and these men, these harvesters, who are from a totally different world—were able to have these conversations, difficult conversations, we really talked about everything. Hopefully it gives room to people’s imaginations to also take part in those conversations. I also hope it reveals something about where our food comes from, and the people who work around the year to provide it for us.
