Other Tastes of Modernism
Zack Denfeld
Resilience: A Journal of the Environmental Humanities
Vol. 2, No. 1 (Winter 2014)
Published by: University of Nebraska Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5250/resilience.2.1.008
First Page of Article: An insect powder printed in 3-d, a barbeque sauce made from mutation-bred varieties of plants, and a data-driven cheese board. This collection of art and design projects uses the topic of food to embrace, problematize, or completely reject the Fordist values of industrial efficiency, order, and control. Each project establishes a complex and often ironic attitude toward human progress, scientific and technological advancement, rational planning, and increased efficiency.
The topic of Fordism and food is especially relevant right now because conversations about agricultural production, food insecurity, and culinary futures in policy-making circles and the mainstream media still tend to emphasize efficiency, top-down planning, and technological solutions. Newer goals of resilience, food sovereignty, and appropriate technologies often require a repudiation of Fordist beliefs and measurements of success other than increased efficiency and rational control.