L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 28 L'Italo-Americano SEATTLE ITALIAN COMMUNITY G igi Berardi is o n e o f t h o s e lucky individu- a l s , s o m e o n e w h o h a s s u c - cessfully mixed professional interests with personal pas- sions. For more than 30 years, Berardi has studied agricul- ture and food, obtaining a B A i n b i o l o g y f r o m t h e University of California at San Diego and then a mas- ter's and PhD degrees in nat- ural resources from Cornell University. She has been a p r o f e s s o r s i n c e 1 9 9 5 a t H u x l e y C o l l e g e o f t h e E n v i r o n m e n t a t W e s t e r n Washington University in B e l l i n g h a m , f o c u s i n g o n community vulnerabilities and cultural ecology. Before joining the faculty at WWU, she taught at The Evergreen State College, and is also an a f f i l i a t e p r o f e s s o r a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f A l a s k a Fairbanks. For three years, Berardi directed WWU's Resilient Farms project, working closely with staff and com- munity members to identify vulnerabilities in food sys- tems and search for ways to increase resilience. She has taught courses on such sub- j e c t s a s e c o - g a s t r o n o m y , agroecology, sustainability and rural development, envi- ronmental toxins and envi- ronmental studies, and cre- ated WWU's popular Food Studies in Europe pro- gram. She is a regular con- tributor to food and agricul- ture blogs. Although food is definitely a lifelong passion, Berardi is also avid about dance. She holds a master's degree in dance from UCLA and has been a writer and dance crit- ic for decades, with more than 300 articles and reviews in print. Her 2005 book on dance, Finding Balance, looks at how fitness, training and health must be integrat- ed in order to maintain a sustainable lifetime in dance. In the summer, Berardi homesteads with her family on 25 acres in the San Juan I s l a n d s , n o r t h o f S e a t t l e , where she grows her own vegetables, raises lambs and m a k e s c h e e s e . H e r l a t e s t b o o k , F o o d W I S E : A Whole Systems Guide to S u s t a i n a b l e a n d Delicious Food Choices, was published in January by North Atlantic Books. The following interview is based on details Berardi shared in her new book. T e l l u s a l i t t l e b i t a b o u t g r o w i n g u p i n California. My father was part of a large Italian family. My m o t h e r w a s b o r n i n Arkansas and grew up in O k l a h o m a . A s a t e e n i n 1 9 2 2 , s h e m o v e d t o California by herself. She was a great cook and started a n e w l i f e f o r h e r s e l f i n H o l l y w o o d , w h e r e I w a s born. She no longer raised crops or loosened soil, but s h e d i d m a r r y a n I t a l i a n romantic and nurtured my sister and me with arguably the world's best food. S o y o u r i n t e r e s t i n food started at an early age? There were often parallel meals going on in my house- hold. My mother would cook whatever my sister and I w e r e c r a v i n g . T h e n m y f a t h e r w o u l d c o m e h o m e and cook some Italian dish like roasted fennel or vermi- celli and anchovies. I saw that the possibilities for sam- p l i n g a n d e x p e r i m e n t i n g never ended. Not only did the cooking captivate me, so did the shopping. Going to the market as a little girl was a great adventure, although nothing compared to going to the new Vons supermarket in Burbank, with its colorful aisles and huge delis. W h e n d i d f o o d b e c o m e a r e s e a r c h study? My professional interest in food started with a year abroad at the University of Sussex outside London in the 1970s. I was studying biolo- gy, and food activism was big during those years. From t h e r e , I w e n t t o C o r n e l l University where I co-found- ed the Coalition for the Right to Eat. I lived with A m i s h f a r m e r s a n d researched what was just starting to be called organic agriculture. Then I studied soils and did my doctorate on dairy farmers who were struggling economically with poor soils and low prices. I received an environmental Fulbright scholarship – one of only two given — and went t o I t a l y t o s t u d y . A t t h a t point, my professional path was set: I continued to study and work in food and food systems throughout my aca- demic career. And I learned Italian. FoodWISE has been called the food-lover's guide to making the right choices. Tell us more. How our food is grown is critical to leading a wise and rich life in a socially and eco- nomically just world. The word "WISE" in the book's t i t l e i s a n a c r o n y m f o r W h o l e , I n f o r m e d , S u s t a i n a b l e a n d E x p e r i e n c e d . A s c o n - sumers, we have the wisdom to do the right thing to pro- duce food, process it and consume it. Experience gives us a choice. Being informed gives us the information we need about food systems, such as which ones are effi- cient to use and which ones are sustainable. M a n y p e o p l e p r o m o t e diets that are healthy and g o o d f o r y o u . I p r e f e r t o think of diet in a broader sense, meaning a way of life. Today, I eat things based on what tastes good. Every bite connects me to the greater agricultural web of sun, soil and seed, of distributors and sellers, of buyers and eaters. We are all part of this greater web because we eat. This message seems particularly timely today as we struggle with glob- al upheaval caused by the pandemic. There are many choices we have around food. There are foods we know we should eat, like green leafy vegeta- bles. And there are foods we try to avoid for health, moral or ethical reasons. Our food beliefs were formed by nur- ture and the eating environ- ments of our childhood, or adopted through experience and reason in adulthood. These deeply held beliefs and convictions can drive our decisions about food more t h a n a c t u a l h u n g e r , f a c t s about nutrition or ultimate cost. In fact, questioning my own ideas about food is what got me to write this book. RITA CIPALLA Making wise food decisions every day from the ground up Making cheese is a satisfying but labor-intensive experience as students from Western Washington University find out, as they assist professor Gigi Berardi (second from right). (WWU Window Magazine)

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