A Good Eater blog  http://www.agoodeater.com has sprung from the food articles I have written, over the years, for Wolf Moon Journal. The journal featured longish pieces about food and usually a bit of history as well. The blog, on the other hand, focuses on shorter, more immediate pieces. The name of the blog most definitely describes me. I am a good eater, as anyone who has ever invited me to dinner can confirm. This is also something I often heard my mother say, with admiration, about various friends and members of the family. “Oh, he’s a good eater!” or “What a good eater!” This was high praise coming from her, and let’s just say it wasn’t a good thing to be a picky eater in her house.

In the blog, I explore not only the good food that comes my way but also various food issues. The subject is more complex than it might seem, especially in this country where we have very contradictory attitudes toward eating, where it has become a swirl of sin, repression, and guilty indulgence mixed with necessity and—dare I say it?—pleasure. In addition, there are class issues, food justice issues, local and organic issues, and many, many more issues. Food is not a simple subject.

Finally, issues aside, what I hope to convey is a sense of joy when it comes it food. David Moreau, a very fine Maine poet, has declared that baseball and sex are the two great subjects of literature. However, Joel Johnson, Wolf Moon’s film critic, and I decided that instead it is food and sex. “After all,” Joel said, “baseball is seasonal, and food is year round.”

Yes, it is. So to borrow from the irrepressible Julia Child, who lately has been much in the public consciousness, bon appétit!

http://www.agoodeater.com

Laurie Meunier Graves