An Analytical View of "Back to the Land" - Author: Maira Kalman

I spent some time reading "Back to the Land" by Maira Kalman. I found the writings of Kalman very interesting, to say the least. She talks about Agrarian societies as if we have lost our way. She wrote, "Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison - farmers all - envisioned an agrarian society. We have since evolved into a very different kind of society." Like we did not understand what the founders of America had hoped for us to be. Like we should start to rethink the way we live but mostly the way we eat. She suggests that the fast food most of us Americans consume will make us overweight and unhealthy. She states, "every little bit of this country has very fast food. If you eat too much of this food you become sick and also Fatafat. And no amount of Fatafat pills will help you." I never heard of Fatafat pills and I work in a pharmacy, so these sound very strange to me. I also noticed this phrase, "Do the wealthy have access to the really healthy food while the less affluent do not?" I thought this to be revealing of the cost of foods today. It is true that you can get a couple of dollar cheeseburgers from places like McDonald's, which is very unhealthy for you, or you can spend up to $6.00per/lb for fruits and vegetables. Which would you chose?

As I read throughout the rest of the text I see that most of the text is filled with food. She shows pictures of bad food and good food. She uses the pictures as a way of showing fast food in comparison to organic food. She gives all kinds of examples of the food she likes, for instance, chicken and eggs, fruits and vegetables. I think she does this as a suggestion of foods we can eat that are healthier for us and we might also enjoy them as she does. She talks about farmers and city children who are gonna start gardening. It might be a suggestion of people who are still continuing to live like agrarians or that we as a society should teach all of our children how to grow their own food. How we should teach them healthier ways of eating. She also suggests that we should question bad eating habits and the our own choices by asking, "So what do we do about that?"

I guess there are some things that can throw you off a little bit in her text. For example on page 95 there is a picture of a chef standing next to two pizzas and a phrase that says, "The wearing of sponge pajamas. The eating of cod liver oil. Hmmm." I see this to be an anomaly to her writing because I don't see how it fits in with the rest of the text. I can't tell if it is a quote from F.T. Marinetti's book titled; "Futurist Cookbook", or if it is a statement of the picture itself. I think it also not fair to suggest that every city has a cart vendor or that all cart vendors sell food that is unhealthy for you, as she does on page 83. If you take a closer look at the cart, on the bottom of the sign it reads, "Veggie Wrap $3.00." I also find it strange that she writes about a problem that needs to be addressed but she hardly showed any kind of solution. Almost as if she is leaving the solution up to the reader. More than anything though it is a good read because it leaves you asking questions about yourself, your food choices and your eating habits. Bon appetit!