Jonathan Gold

Free; reservations required. The United States, once a nation of lackluster cooking, has over the past three decades become a nation of people obsessed with food. Specialty markets bring organic food to millions of customers who used to put up with less appetizing produce and meats. Farmers markets are ... (more)a nationwide phenomenon. At the sushi restaurants Masa in New York City and Urasawa in Beverly Hills, customers spend over $500 a head to sample the freshest fish flown in from halfway around the world. We create identities based on diets—vegans, locavores, and pescatarians multiply—and politics seem to enter into even mundane grocery aisle decisions. But not everyone can afford to eat organic and sustainably. And some people don't believe that we are what we eat. Good food tends to be enjoyable for those who eat it, but is it good for anything else? Adam Gopnik, author of The Table Comes First: Family, France, and the Meaning of Food and the LA Weekly's Jonathan Gold visit Zócalo to discuss the joys and pitfalls of the new place of food in our lives. Adam Gopnik will also be appearing at the Getty on Thursday, February 23, for a lecture about winter scenes. Find more information at the Getty's site. Lotted and garage parking is available twenty-four hours at 233 S. Main St. Limited street parking is also available after 6pm.