Feasting Wild: In Search of the Last Untamed Food by Gina Rae La Cerva
La Cerva spans the globe in search of the last truly “wild” foods in an increasingly developed and urbanized world. While I am tend to be interested in food writing, this was a book I was unable to finish- and I usually finish everything. The work reads as a tragedy: a documentation of violence and abuse and extinction that humans have imposed upon the animal world. There is no kingdom that escapes: the sea, the air, the forest all meet the devastating consequences of humankind’s folly. I found the material deeply upsetting, and unsettling. While La Cerva seems to hit her stride in the middle of the book- the precise point I put it down for good- the material was too unsettling to continue. Finally, at the chapter that explored the sale of live bonobos at a bushmeat market, I had had enough. (Bonobos share over 98% of our DNA.) I had lain awake enough nights after reading to realize this was no longer a healthy or peaceful way to end my day.
To be clear, I am a pescatarian, largely with vegan tendencies. We eat low on the food chain in our home: little to no dairy, local caught fish on occasion, local cheese as a splurge. We raise chickens for our eggs. I love, value, and cherish animals and their innocence, their live-in-the-moment joy. Reading this book and its litany of devastation on the animal kingdom was something I simply could not do anymore. My brain and body already feel overtaxed from the last two years and the ensuing political, social, and environmental dramas. Perhaps this is why I have been drawn to the rollicking, easy reads of Kristin Hannah lately. Regardless, be warned that whether you consume meat with aplomb or are a plant eater for ethical reasons, you may find the book disturbing.
La Cerva does an excellent job of omitting judgement from her writing, which I commend her for. The legacies of animal slaughter are not, after all, unique to developing nations. While reading about bushmeat may be upsetting, let us remember that westerners, too, slaughter hundreds of millions of animals annually for their meat consumption. While we treat dogs with deference, we bludgeon livestock and poultry. Other countries would note our hypocrisy. Any judgment on others is a judgment on ourselves. Her tone is understanding, empathic; she explores the context of these choices through a historical and critical lens.
I also found interesting the psychological allowances we give ourselves to justify the killing of another living creature. I have said the same aphorisms myself, and to read them in this context gave them new light, and lunacy. Bushmeat or wild animals are “closer to God”; you need to know “where your food comes from”; domestic animals are not as tasty/good quality/high value/well raised as wild meats. When read regarding the near extinction of some of these lauded species, the words ring hollow, and ridiculous.
My last large critique would be the quality of La Cerva’s writing, which seems deeply embedded in its own seriousness and whose primary goal is not being quite reader-friendly. Are we here to understand, or empathize, or be voyeurs of these wild experiences? It never became clear to me, nor did I care to ultimately find out.
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