Gabriel Axel, R.I.P.

thefeast
The director of Babette’s Feast, Gabriel Axel, died last weekend. Based on a story by Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen), the film is a quiet, beautiful film about food, art, and their transformative power. If you haven’t seen it, you should; if you haven’t seen it in a while, watch it again. The Criterion Collection website offers several resources related to the film, including links to rent or purchase a copy. And it’s available on Netflix.

Also, don’t miss this essay, “Babette’s Feast, A Fable for Culinary France,” from Accounting for Taste: The Triumph of French Cuisine by Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson (University of Chicago Press, 2004).

Michael Pollan on the Rise of Industrial Agriculture (Edible Education 101)

The first of this year’s Edible Education lectures from the UC Berkeley class is by Michael Pollan, co-chair of the course. (Because this is a class each video presentation captures administrative and other housekeeping announcements; the lecture itself starts approximately 30 minutes into the video.)

Edible Education 101: “The Rise of Industrial Agriculture” by Michael Pollan from The Edible Schoolyard Project on Vimeo.