“In dirt we taste”
Northern California artist Laura Parker’s latest project has re-purposed the practice and vernacular of wine tasting and has applied it to soil. The language she uses skirts safely away from pretentiousness and pays wonderful homage to farmers’ careful, thoughtful stewardship of the land. From her web site:
When {Portland, OR chef} Robert Reynolds introduced me to Louis Marie – reputed to make the best goat cheeses in France I discovered that it was possible to taste the pasture that the goats ate in the cheese made from their milk. My journey to explore the taste of place had begun. As a child I spent a lot of time on the farms of my family. I often remember those hot summer days spent playing in the fields or working in the garden. My grandfather and uncles were always tasting the soil, actually it was impossible not to.
After making books so I could read the soil I wanted to now taste the dirt. While working on LandScape: the Farmer as Artist one of my collaborators Karen Salinger and I developed “Tasting Notes” for the soil of our friends. This was the vehicle to enter the conversation of Taste of Place and the frame for the soil tastings.
This experience is just a metaphor, a small place to stop and pay attention for a few minutes to the food we eat and where it comes from.
Can’t you taste the difference in the food that you grow and eat?
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Tags: Art, Growing, SanFrancisco, soil
December 15th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Farm Aid, HOMEGROWN DotOrg. HOMEGROWN DotOrg said: "In Dirt We Taste". Soil "tastings" as homage to the farmers who steward the land http://bit.ly/8femhE […]
February 13th, 2013 at 5:29 pm
Very interesting. I can remember many times saying something tasted like dirt. I meant soil. I could taste the soil, not that it tasted horrible. As a child I did not like the taste if beets but they smelled and tasted strongly of soil to me. Even in organic Romaine lettuce…some is sweet and rich tasting and others flat and not so flavorful. I believe it is largely the soil. Anyhow its nice to know this isn’t something I imagined and that farmers did it! City girl here is in awe of all the knowledge city dwellers have lost
February 10th, 2023 at 7:26 am
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