 In Eating Between The Lines,
author Rebecca Huntley attempts to document what Australians are eating and
why. Not the foodies and gastronomes to whom newspaper sections and lifestyle
magazines are dedicated (although there is a section about them), but so-called
‘everyday’ Australians like working mums, migrants and people from right across
the socio-economic scale.
Each chapter tackles a different topic and thus reads as a standalone
journalistic-style essay, based largely on anecdotes and author interviews,
with some research findings thrown in. It’s interesting reading as it
introduces new concepts and attempts to charter the politics of how food is
distributed and consumed in Australia.
However, the scope of the book is not particularly broad and some chapters work
better than others.
The chapter ‘Table For One’ is a highlight. Looking at how single people
perceive food and cooking, Huntley draws the conclusion that although they
prepare food for themselves, many singles don’t see it as ‘proper’ cooking;
there is a perception that sharing food is the ‘right’ way to eat. ‘Bush
Tucker’ hits a high note, reporting on the way that traditional Australian food
has been systematically eradicated, except when appropriated for high-end
consumers as ‘gourmet food’, and the social and health implications around the
types of food that many Indigenous Australians have access to.
Although interesting topics, many of the essays remain frustratingly shallow.
On occasion, Huntley does try to tease out deeper analysis but time after time
falls back on making simple conclusions: ‘Family Dinners’ only really addresses
the pressure on working mums; ‘Sex In The Kitchen’ ultimately concludes that if
they want to get men cooking in non-commercial settings then maybe women should
simply encourage them a little bit more; and ‘Cheap As Chips’ explores the
relationship between why many people from lower socio-economic areas are overweight
because they don’t have access to good food, but fails to really question why
or how this came to be.
Huntley positions herself from the outset as one of the privileged in Australia
who has access to ‘good food’ (healthy and varied local eateries, access to
farmers’ markets and money to spend at gourmet food shops) and as a result the
book’s tone ends up sounding quite patronising; on more than one occasion in
the book she cannot bring herself to eat any of the food offered in a
particular suburb or place.
Sometimes it feels as though, despite aiming to write broadly about the
politics of food, Huntley has somewhat missed the point. For example, in her
conclusion she states that although people on low incomes are clearly the worst
off when it comes to accessing decent food, people who are time-poor are
similarly disadvantaged. She then goes on to offer a few suggestions about how
the situation could be improved in Australia, such as introducing ‘green
labelling’ and embracing the Slow Food movement.
Although not without problems, Eating
Between The Lines is a worthwhile read and a useful primer for anyone just
starting to get interested in the politics of food in Australia.
Eating Between The Lines: Food &
Equality In Australia
ISBN 9781863952637 | 224 pages | RRP: $24.95
Black Inc, September 2008
by Rebecca Huntley
WORDS: Lisa Dempster
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