Hello, Bonjour, Hola
The United States, Canada, and Mexico
IT FEELS STRANGE TO write about food right now and not say that all hell is breaking loose in North America. When I heard on Saturday that Trump had taken official steps to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, I felt nauseous. I’ve always looked beyond the United States. Mexico is far from where I live, and I’ve never written about a Mexican subject (mi culpa), but Canada is so close. Canadians are or were our greatest friends. My region is filled with people whose roots are north of the border. We have relatives in Quebec. It’s an hour’s drive away; occasionally, we go for groceries.
We watched Trudeau’s speech last night, and however much he has been criticized as prime minister (by Canadians), he seemed to us to say just the right things, to strike the right tone, to provide the kind of strength and leadership that is the antithesis of what we have now in the United States. We wish we had a president like that.
Trump’s tariffs on imports from our two neighbors are an unprecedented attack on allies. It’s too early to know how destructive the effects will be or how long we will watch the damage continue, but the relationship can never be the same. There can never be the same trust; all three countries will be weaker. Trump’s act is needless, sad, painful. Canadians and Mexicans are right to be angry; in the US, some of us want to cry.
The North American economic structure overall was working, and if it wasn’t, the right tactic was negotiation. No matter what happens, the comforts of the daily lives of those behind the tariffs will be untouched, while most people in all three countries will lose income, and more will be pushed into poverty.
I’ve been finishing an article about — of all frivolous-seeming subjects — cake. But cake and coffee must be near the top of the list of comforting things, which we need now. (I’ll publish the article in the next few days.) And in confronting the current evil, it’s important to bear witness to all the good that it doesn’t represent. It’s important to show respect for culture and the arts, including the culture of food — for knowledge and expertise. It’s important to point out what the true values are in life.
Thank you for reading. Merci pour votre lecture. Gracias por leer. ●
Thanks Ed. As a Canadian and long-time reader of the magazine (and now the Substack), this means a lot. It's been a grim weekend. It's going to be a grim winter. But hopefully the friendships we have and share across what we used to proudly describe as the world's longest undefended border will persist and, in time, prevail. And in the interim, coffee and cake may be just what is needed.
I agree with so much of this...except for the claim that the North American economic structure "was working." It was working for the affluent and no one else. I truly hope that the Democrats can quickly realize how impossible life feels in this country for anyone who has to earn a wage to survive, who doesn't own a home, who doesn't have access to so-called generational wealth. This "anyone" includes so many of us who work in the food business.