Reflecting on The Dinner of Relations

ABSTRACT

This article reflects on previous research about farming and eating practices of organic and biodynamic farmers in The Netherlands. With the commitment to continue this work, this paper explores connections between eating, food, and COVID-19. The pandemic, which works as a magnifying glass when revisiting farming and eating practices, allows for a critical reflection while asking new questions to the previously gathered data. A parallel is drawn between monocultures of agro-industrial food production and mono-cultures of the mind, specifically in conventional approaches to social scientific research. In doing so, suggestions are shared for how we can contribute to agrarian transformations that move away from monocultures of farming and singular ways of understanding our existence, towards more socially and ecologically just ways of producing and eating food, as well of researching and thinking about them.

KEYWORDS:

• Food
• eating
• feminism
• farmers
• monocultures

Acknowledgements

This article and the research behind it would not have been possible without the farmers who welcomed her into their lives, letting her spend time at their farms while sharing their stories with her. The author would like to thank the special issue editors Rosalba Icaza Garza and Zuleika Sheik and the anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments on earlier versions of this chapter. Thank you to her family who taught her about growing food, eating together and sharing with those around her. Finally, the author wants to thank her partner, Lillian, who supported her, thought with her and who shares many marvellous meals with her.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Other-than-human is used to refer to all other forms of life, acknowledging that these are not limited to life on earth. The term is understood more broadly and used to challenge the binary that is often created when talking about ‘humans vs. nature’ or ‘non-humans’ where the human is viewed as superior over other species which are understood as lacking human characteristics, subjecting them to exploitation (Nightingale, 2018, p. 4).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the International Institute of Social Studies [grant number 18202010.036].

Notes on contributors

Rosa de Nooijer

Rosa de Nooijer is a feminist environmentalist who holds an MA in Development Studies from the International Institute of Social Studies. She is currently working as a consultant, focusing on food politics, agrarian studies, gender and climate change. She is also a communications officer at Stichting Schooldakrevolutie: a non-profit organization with the goal of installing solar panels on all suitable school roofs in The Netherlands.