In Search of Wild Bliss

Reading
time 5 minutes

used be an editor of the Culture & Society section. She is a writer and journalist focusing on global development.

Today, the richest fantasy of Homo sapiens is to experience undisturbed wilderness. Nowhere is it harder to find nature than on our plates; we feed ourselves with the constructs of civilization and chew on our own, tasteless future. Will we manage to sate ourselves with authenticity ever again?

A skilled forager combs the cemeteries of Copenhagen. He is employed by Noma, at one time crowned the best restaurant in the world (currently in 2nd place behind the French restaurant Mirazur). The head chef at Noma creates a new menu every day in order to charge big bucks to serve people the most expensive produce on the market: the authentic taste of nature.

Two centuries after the demise of the Scandinavian practice of foraging, in the form of trips to the forest for blueberries or herbs, the desire to be fed by Mother Earth has returned as a luxury available to the few. Recovering the wisdom and skill of eating locally and seasonally has become a profession for experts. All this is due to the devastation caused by colonization, including colonization of the natural world.

Information

You’ve reached your free article’s limit this month. You can get unlimited access to all our articles and audio content with our digital subscription. If you have an active subscription, please log in.

Subscribe

Paulina Wilk:

used be an editor of the Culture & Society section. She is a writer and journalist focusing on global development.

Translation: Annie Jaroszewicz

Publish date: 18.09.2020

Also read:

Ewa Pawlik:

Former Deputy Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Manager – “Przekrój” Magazine.

It improves the condition of the body, reduces inflammation and teaches perseverance. At least in theory, as Ewa Pawlik found out.

Everyone knows you should eat fruit and vegetables, but hardly anyone realizes that sometimes it’s good to take a bite out of yourself as well. Hippocrates, the father of medicine, was recommending ‘self-eating’, otherwise known as fasting, to his patients as early as 400 BC. In 2016, the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to Yoshinori Ohsumi for his research into the phenomenon of autophagy, the controlled degradation of proteins and other cellular structures that is associated with fasting. After several hours of fasting, insulin levels drop and glucagon levels increase; these changes give rise to autophagy. The level of growth hormone also increases, activating regenerative processes. Meanwhile, the risk of developing cancer is lowered, and symptoms associated with diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases and cardiovascular diseases also subside. Even the ageing process slows down. All you need to do is stop eating!

Also read:

The War Between Lent and Carnival

Login

Register