Full text loading...
Conceiving of Ourselves in Edible Terms in the Wasteocene
Considering that disposability is the defining feature of the age we live in, it can be characterized best as the Wasteocene (Armiero). Where the Anthropocene is read in geological strata, the Wasteocene must be read in bodies, some of which have become a dump (of plastics, PFAS, pesticides, et cetera) more than others. How to move away from the waste-making relationships that characterize the Wasteocene, that are slowly but steadily turning to world into a non-life giving dump and instead move to place-making relationships? This requires we once again conceive of ourselves in edible terms (Plumwood) and ask how we can learn to eat and give to eat well, which starts already in the womb. Following Jacques Derrida’s ethical command “il faut bien manger” (one must eat well/one must eat the good/it is good to eat), I figure this eating and giving to eat from the perspective of “eating one’s mother” or matrotrophy (Simms) and argue this requires we give to eat generously, with generativity and generations in mind. What do we give to eat to future generations and does that digest well?