Australian Women's Book Review Volume 14.1 - School of English ...

Although Probyn openly admits to passing over specific environmental concerns in favour of more
diffuse questions of understanding, her approach does, nonetheless, underscore a vital focus for
environmental discourse that has thus far been neglected. In dealing with those smaller, insidious
actions hidden within the mundanity of eating, Probyn's rhizomatic exploration becomes a tool to cloud
the logic of the worldview pictures of ethical existence. By informing a more subtle ecological
sensitivity often neglected by environmental writing, Probyn's work inadvertently contributes to a
developing paradigm of environmental consciousness: '[W]ays of living informed by both the rawness
of a visceral engagement with the world, and a sense of restraint in the face of excess.'
Although I applaud Probyn's endeavours at what she describes as 'smaller' scenarios rather than
'generalised green politics', I also hope that her sojourn is but the first nibble at this particular rhizome.
It's not that Probyn has inadequately critiqued the realms of traditional identity formation - sex, bodies,
corporate culture … but that within the category of 'food' many neglected areas still exist. Eating is
privileged within research, unfettered by links to all those less glamorous activities which make it
possible. The emphasis on eating in Probyn's writing alludes to a more universal cultural emphasis on
this consumptive practice, which results in little being written, for instance, about the growing of food.
The colours and characters of food production are so easily washed out under the glare of celebrity
chefs and shock/horror eating practices. In such a light, consigning food production to the shadows of
cultural research, remote edges of 'over-developed' cities, corners of backyards and the insides of
industrial sheds may be an understandable strategy. However, with 40% of the world's population
facing a future with not enough water to grow their own food and famine currently spreading through
parts of Aftrica, I contend that extending Probyn's question 'What does power taste like?' to these
nether regions of food practice is a critical next step.
Angela Hirst is doing PhD research in the Department of Architecture, Geography and Planning
at the University of Queensland.
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