The headline formulation “On ________” reads as pretentious. As if the author wants to conjure up images of dusty Enlightenment philosophers to fool their forty-three readers into thinking an essay on like the fermentation of rutabagas or whatever contains the insights to the universe. I did not give this essay the title I did for that reason, however. I gave it that title because I couldn’t think of anything else, and thought it sounded kind of cool. A much better reason.
Soup deserves more than the humble laudatory ode I can give it. At the risk of falling into the trap of hyperbole – kidding, I fall into that trap all the time – soup deserves the talent of a Homer, an Angelou, a Hughes. The humble liquid, semi-liquid, liquid with solid chunks suspended in it, fills the gustatory roles of warming, filling, satisfying, healing, and wonderful. Nothing but the best for the soups of the world. And since peak soup time soon comes to a close I figured I’d better write about it.
Soup season, generally the period between November and March, always ends too abruptly. While the budding of Spring generally means warmer temps and, at least in Chicago, the ability to spend more than ten minutes outside, it also means the loss of the impulse to eat soup. The general association of soup with hot foods means that once it gets warm outside people run away from soup and towards salads. And that’s fine. No one thinks eating fresh green stuff after a long cold winter constitutes a crime. But leaving soup on the shelf until another cold-snap does a disservice to soups. It deserves more.
Spring, summer, and fall soups, while they don’t have the name recognition of a winter soup like French Onion, or Beef Bourguignon, hit the taste-buds just as hard as any of the big boys. A nice Zucchini lemon-grass soup, gazpacho, or garden Minestrone can satiate even the grumpiest critic around. With their garden-fresh ingredients and quick-prep recipes, soups shouldn’t be relegated to just the winter.
Dang, Dude What The Heck? is nothing if not in favor of seasonality when it comes to food. Access to things such as grapes, oranges, tomatoes, etc year-round came about only about very recently. While certainly a boon for those who need constant contact with Vitamin C, this gain also comes with a multitude of curses. Year-round production relies on the backs of underpaid, horribly treated agricultural workers across the world. These workers often can’t afford, or don’t even have access to the very food that they grow. Year-round availability also relies on tremendous amounts of energy expenditure, with the international shipping, and water required to get these products to market reaching sky-high amounts. The final product also suffers. Tomatoes shipped in a refrigerated truck, or bananas left to ripen in the back of an airplane don’t taste good. While this will make me sound like Marianne Williamson, we also lose touch with the patterns of the Earth.
While I don’t want to make an argument that we should return to pre-modern times, I like video games too much, modernity has not been all champagne and roses. Most of all when it comes to food consumption. As I’ve written about before, modern eating and growing habits – read: the logic of capitalism – means that our food has lost both variety, and flavor. Modernity has also ruined our understanding of seasonal eating.
Now I, like anyone, loves being able to eat fresh greens in the middle of winter. And the availability of cheap frozen produce year-round has certainly improved the lives of many working-class families. But I argue that those same families shouldn’t only have to eat bland flash frozen peas. The working class deserves good, fresh food. Every family should have access to overwintered turnips, parsnips, swiss chard, and vegetables. To make soup with, if they want. Access to cheap – lol – farmer’s markets shouldn’t limit access to fresh local goods.
This of course, means that we might have to deal with not being able to get an ear of corn whenever we want it. But saving the world comes with sacrifice. But like how Medicare for All might slightly raise taxes, the benefits far outweigh the costs. Being more aware of what foods can grow near you, how and when they grow, and eating fresher provides not only flavor but tremendous ecological and health benefits. And not eating a dragonfruit in the middle of winter seems like a fair comprise.
So, soup. The fairest of all foodstuffs. Make it local, make it seasonal, fight capitalism.