Footnotes to a Conversation, November 20, 2023
“A man who makes trouble for others makes trouble for himself.” – Chinua Achebe
I’m on the move this coming week from market towns and farmland to Leicester, the largest city in the Midlands with a diverse population, and then to the rolling Malvern Hills with a history of holy wells, a Victorian spa, and bottled water. Such a small country with so much variety.
Bringing Health Care to the People
Accessing health care is becoming more and more difficult. So many of us don’t have a family doctor. SNCF, the French rail company, has announced plans to set up telemedicine services in 300 train stations in areas where there is insufficient healthcare. Ten million people pass through French train stations every day, and 90% of the population lives within 10 km of a station. [EuroNews]
Apostrophe Catastrophe
There was an outcry when Winchester City Council eliminated the apostrophe from the St. Mary’s Terrace street sign. But never fear. It’s back in place again, much to the delight of the Apostrophe Protection Society. “Apostrophes in road or town names generally have real significance. They are there for a reason. They were put in because there was some association with local history … Getting rid of apostrophes from street names is a form of cultural vandalism. It’s like spelling it wrong. You wouldn’t dream of spelling a street name wrongly but taking an apostrophe out is tantamount to just that.” [The Guardian]
Maps, Power, and Identity
We think of maps as objective representations of reality, but the choices mapmakers make as to what to include and what to exclude reveal a great deal about power and spatial relationships. As Buddhism spread in China, the country’s self-image of centrality was weakened by a realization that they were on the periphery of the Buddhist world. [JSTOR Daily]
Restaurant Culture
I became involved in Slow Food because I believed that food must be viewed in context – it must be good for human health, good for the workers, and good for the planet. I was and continue to be interested in the story behind what we eat: where does it come from, what does it contain, who benefits.
Solen Ho discusses restaurants as vehicles for cultural change. Her restaurant reviews for the San Francisco Chronicle attempted to broaden readers’ awareness of the intention behind the restaurants, labour issues, and the role restaurants played in preserving or pushing cultural boundaries. [Civil Eats]
Footnotes to a Conversation is a weekly Monday feature covering an assortment of topics that I’ve come across in the preceding week – books, art, travel, food, and whatever else strikes my fancy. I also post occasional articles on other dates, including frequent book reviews and travel tales.
If you share my love of nature, check out EcoFriendly West, an online publication encouraging environmental initiatives in Western Canada, and Nature Companion, a free nature app for Canada’s four western provinces.