We face an uncertain future. From automation forcing mass unemployment to global ecological breakdown, the future of ‘modern’ human society has never been so demonstrably uncertain. In this blog I will argue that the solution to that is not simply about power politics, or technology – it’s entirely related to our relationship to food, and how that directly connects us as living animals to the world around us.
‘An Anarchist's Cookbook’ was set-up in 2021 as part of a new project to bring ‘primitivist’ thinking to the ecological debate in Britain – and directly questioning the viability of the ‘green consumerism’ paradigm advanced by mainstream environmentalism since the 1990s.
It seeks to provide a different framework to discuss ecological issues, outside the frame of ‘consumerism’, as a means to address the excesses of Western consumption.
While this blog concentrates on everyday lifestyle, it partners with another new blog to look at the practical means for change: ‘Long Walks & Anarcho-Primitivism’ – which looks at learning simple living skills outdoors, as practically as possible, so that you may carry out these ideas more easily indoors.
Is there a message here? Well, yes: ‘If you have freedom in how and what you eat, then everything else in your daily life becomes negotiable because the most essential part of life has been taken care of.’
‘An Anarchist’s Cookbook’, Part 5, New Sap Moon 2022:
Contemporary ‘consumer’ veganism has an over-packaged/over-priced credibility issue. This is especially true of plant-based milks, and their impact compared to ‘DIY’ options. In this post I explore how you can avoid this by making your own oat milk – cheaply, easily, and with minimal waste.
Download the PDF version of this post.
Go to the YouTube video accompanying this post.
‘A Book in Five Minutes’, no.8, 28th February 2022:
‘The Conquest of Bread’ (1906)
Peter Kropotkin’s 1906 book doesn’t just challenge the power elite. At its core it challenges the general approach of ‘the left’, and the left's infatuation with lofty ideals rather than the basic needs and conditions of the people.
Go to the YouTube video for this post.
An audio podcast of this blog post is available on the page.
‘A Book in Five Minutes’, no.6, 7th November 2021:
‘This Land is Our Land’ (1987)
A book which traces an arc of how the shift from Feudalism into Capitalism, via the reciprocal Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions, not only changed the landscape, but also created many of the social ills that still afflict society today.
Go to the YouTube video for this post.
An audio podcast of this blog post is available on the page.
‘A Book in Five Minutes’, no.4, 20th September 2021:
‘Diet for a Small Planet’ (1971)
I think there are very few books that you can truthfully say, ‘this book changed my life’. When I first came across it almost forty years ago, this one changed mine. It explained clearly to me what it was I needed to know to eat well.
Go to the YouTube video for this post.
An audio podcast of this blog post is available on the page.
‘An Anarchist’s Cookbook’, Part 4, New Harvest Moon 2021:
‘The Autumn Raspberry Harvest’
Preserving food is not just 'cooking'; preserving food requires that you think about the future. Hence why growing and preserving food can be a window into planning a new future.
Download the PDF version of this post.
Go to the YouTube video accompanying this post.
An audio podcast of this post is available on the page.
‘An Anarchist’s Cookbook’, Part 3, Sap Moon 2021:
‘The Anti-Consumerist DIY (vegan) Chocolate Cake’
An imminent birthday means I need a cake for the obligatory celebration. Do I: (a) Buy; or, (b) Bake – a cake? For me, though, there is no choice!
Download the PDF version of this post.
Go to the YouTube video accompanying this post.
The ‘Meta-Blog’, no.13, 25th March 2021:
Why is there no ‘right to food’, or to grow food in Britain?
A little cross-post from ‘The Meta-Blog’…
Covid has exposed Britain’s endemic poverty, and the chaotic state of poverty-relief systems; is a possible solution, ‘food sovereignty’, being deliberately ignored?
Click here to download the PDF version.