In every era the attempt must be made anew to wrest tradition away from a conformism that is about to overpower it. -- Walter Benjamin, "Theses on the Philosophy of History" Eat, drink, and be mindful. Photo: iStockphoto Does Thanksgiving suck? There's certainly a potent case to be made. In a land where communal eating is honored mostly in the breach, pulling off a tolerable national feast poses challenges. In more and more households, people tend to eat separately. Even when they do get together, they often convene over different foods (soy patties for some, microwaved pizza for others), and …

How to choose wine for the Thanksgiving table? There will either be pressure, financial and otherwise, to grab big bottles of cheap plonk off the supermarket shelf, or conversely, pressure to consult Wine Spectator or some other "expert" source and find bottles receiving high scores. Resist both impulses. Here's why -- and how. For people who insist they can't tell the difference between good wine and bad, or who drink for more medicinal than gustatory reasons, I suppose a couple of bottles of crap wine make sense to have around (although either could surprise themselves). But there's no reason to …

I've always been a bit appalled by the polite applause with which some enviros greet Wal-Mart's "green" initiatives. Seems to me that the only way the company could really "go green" would be to stop selling cheap plastic crap shipped in from halfway around the world in vast suburban megastores. In other words, completely change it's business model -- not, say, adopt "green" building techniques for its appalling superstores, or haul mass-produced "organic" food from California, Mexico, and China to stores nationwide, thus burning lots of fossil fuel and potentially squeezing profits for farmers and sparking consolidation and industrialization in …

The view from the Panoche Cotton Gin outside Firebaugh, Calif., reveals a great deal about the state of the cotton industry in the U.S. A generation ago, fields of cotton surrounded the gin as far as the eye could see. Today, the gin -- a warehouse-sized plant that can clean and bundle dozens of tons of cotton a day -- is flanked on all sides by almond orchards, groves upon groves of the tall trees. An endangered species? Photo: iStockphoto "Cotton used to be king -- it was our No. 1 crop," Joseph Maron, the operations supervisor for the gin, …

Dear Umbra, I live in New Hampshire, and I am getting ready for the long, cold winter. I try to eat locally, but with no year-round growing season here and such a dense population, most of the food comes from elsewhere. I was wondering what I could do to reduce my impact during the winter and how I can eat as locally as possible. Do you have any ideas? Diana Durham, N.H. Dearest Diana, Mmm, just in time for Thanksgiving. The Mason-fixin' line. Photo: iStockphoto Hearken back to days of yore, ere yon freezer trucks and container freight hauled yon …

First bit of Thanksgiving advice: Prepare to be bombarded by bits of Thanksgiving advice. Second bit: When you're choosing beer for the holiday table, don't get hoodwinked into buying tarted-up swill from a corporate brewer. Here is a wonderful guide to pairing beer with holiday food. One caveat: I urge you to localize your choice. To that end, here is a state-by-state listing of legit microbrews throughout the U.S. In my home state of North Carolina, I give many thanks to Duck Rabbit, Highland, and Weeping Radish. Support your local brewer -- by tipping a glass.

Thanksgiving is a funny holiday. It's a weird mix of frenzy and sloth, gratitude and greed. What should be a fun and peaceful time spent with relatives and friends is often preceded by the chaos of having too much to do and too little time in which to do it. If you are the person responsible for cooking the Thanksgiving meal, you know that Extreme Grocery Shopping is the hallmark of the holiday. Simply getting your groceries home can be the stuff of nightmares if you live in a crowded city or suburb. Cooking the meal is a cakewalk by …

Eric Schlosser on the set of Fast Food Nation. Photo: Matt Lankes/ © Fox Searchlight Eric Schlosser sat unassumingly -- and almost out of place -- in a floral armchair in a spacious, elegantly decorated suite on the 10th floor of Seattle's Fairmont Olympic Hotel. Behind him, a poster rested on an easel. It featured a juicy burger, bigger than Schlosser's head, adorned with an American flag. In many ways, the jumbo burger is a metaphor for Schlosser's life over the last decade or so -- the fast-food industry looming large as he researched the modern American convenience-based food system, …

Working at McDonald's got me to college, for which I thank the world's largest restaurant chain. I worked there for three years, beginning at about $1 an hour, during the middle of the 20th century. Back then, a buck bought something. I consumed tons of hamburgers and fries and gallons of milkshakes for free -- unconscious consumption. Bliss on the farm. Photo: metroactive.com I have not thought much about McDonald's in the 40 years since I worked there, during which time I have never eaten there again. But McDonald's and restaurants of its ilk are in the news with this …

It's hard to believe that the holiday season is already upon us. Despite the mall stampedes, fruitcake overload, never-ending traffic jams, and hideous reindeer sweaters, I'm looking forward to spending the holidays with my family. I can almost taste my mother's mince pie, and I am ready to play backyard soccer and touch football with my daughters and my nieces and nephews. As you know, this is also a time to give back to those less fortunate. One popular way to do your part is by donating to canned-food drives put on by organizations like Food and Friends and Second …