1970, Today
Fisher, Child, Beard, and their culinary revolution.
The first book I finished in 2026 was Provence, 1970 by Luke Barr, drawn from the journals and letters of his great-aunt, MFK Fisher. It’s one of those books that walks the line between fiction and nonfiction. The book details a winter gathering, in Provence 1970, of the biggest names in the American culinary world at the time: Julia and Paul Child, MFK Fisher, James Beard, and more. These culinary giants spend their December congregating, commiserating, and of course cooking.
Their world had changed drastically throughout the last ten years. The US was experiencing the civil unrest and political turmoil of the sixties into the seventies. Protests, riots, and violence were regularly in the news as the Vietnam War and Civil Rights Era endured. The chefs in Provence were riding a tidal wave of change in their own industry—a wave that they facilitated and fed. Households across the US were pulling away from the minimal skill, ready-made food of the 1950s and were exploring different techniques and cuisines at their dinner tables. There was a growing emphasis on locally sourced ingredients, homemade bread and sausages, and rustic but explorative creations.
It’s hard to read this book and not see the parallels drawn to our current day. As unrest continues under this regime, more and more people are feeling the unease and distrust with our societal structures. Simultaneously, we see a continued trend of emphasis on locally sourced ingredients, farm-to-table concepts, and small batch production. There’s even a similar obsession with sourdough. In addition to that, there is a growing (glorious) trend of the return of house parties.
It makes sense that as we lose faith in the institutions and norms that were promised to protect our liberty and agency, humans seek to optimize aspects of their lives they can control—in this case, food and beverage.
We need to remind ourselves that food and beverage has been, and will always be, political.
What ingredients are grown where, which farming programs get subsidized, who gets access to training and knowledge, and what mechanisms do we have to communicate that training to the masses? These are all factors of our food and wine that are heavily political. Fisher, Child, and Beard all excelled at accessing the French culinary culture and training but were able to put their American attitude stamp on it and translate that knowledge into something that touched the soul and heart of households across the nation.
Watching millennials around me gain interest in home brewing, bread baking, fermentation, etc. is an absolute joy to watch. These hobbies that were once considered out of reach for most are now seen as low barrier and accessible. That trend, combined with the ever-changing information landscape, sets the stage for food and beverage professionals to be the stewards of the new food culture revolution.
Cheers hotties,
Kelly