It’s 2 A.M here in Turin and I’ve ruined my chance for a successful transition away from the Eastern Time zone into Central-European time. Might as well make the most of this late-hour binge read.

So. Get this.

Anthony C.F Wallace was a Canadian-American sociologist who specialized in the cultures of Native Americans, was deeply interested in the intersection between cultural anthropology and psychology, and came up with a “revitalization theory” which basically encompasses the following:

“A revitalization movement is defined as a deliberate, organized, conscious effort by members of a society to construct a more satisfying culture. Revitalization is thus, from a cultural standpoint, a special kind of culture change phenomenon: the persons involved in the process of revitalization must perceive their culture, or some major areas of it, as a system (whether accurately or not); they must feel that this cultural system is unsatisfactory and they must innovate not merely discrete items, but a new cultural system, specifying new relationships as well as, in some cases, new traits” (Wallace 256).

Wallace proposes that a society can change and restore ideal cultural values by making specific recourse with the past, with tradition. Through the revitalization process, though, the society never truly fulfills the goal of full retreat into tradition, instead it creates something completely new, contemporary in itself.

Okay so I know this doesn’t have anything obvious to do with food.. or does it?

I’ve had my “food-brain” on for the past few months, slowly dipping my toes into the vast waters of economic, political, cultural, social etc. etc. parts that make up what we do at the dining table three times a day.

This sociological theory actually fully applies to food culture. In the book Edible Identites: Food as Cultural Heritage, it is proved through the analyzation of food heritages and current cultures in Pietrelcina, Campania, that “heritage cuisine plays a significant role in revitalization movements”.. but only within small-scale societies.

My argument: America needs a revitalization of its generalized food culture practices. Am I aiming at fast food? Not necessarily; my aims are pointed at cultural attitude towards food in general. This is where things get messy.

A thought:

Such a conscious effort to revitalize the food culture of America, even in a more basic sense than Wallace’s sociological theory (if that is possible), seems unattainable in a large-scale society. The paradox in this lies in that America’s local foodstuffs have become a luxury goods, icons. At large, we do not have such a ritualized production and consumption pattern that draws on deep-rooted history accessible for all and, in fact, our history is quite saturated with the industrial. Capitalism has created for modern America a food culture that keeps the majority fat, sick, depressed, and needing more.

Time to revitalize? Yes. With what tradition or heritage to reference?

I’ll be thinking about this.

Oh, and here’s a picture of my lunch. Compliments of the grocery @Eataly, Torino Lingotto.