--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The industrial eater is, in fact, one who…" description: "\"“The industrial eater is, in fact, one who does not know that eating is an agricultural act, who no longer knows or imagines the connections between ea..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee3/wendell-berry-236_eater_the-industrial-eater-is-in-fact-one-who_2874592.jpg" --- # The industrial eater is, in fact, one who does not know… ![“The industrial eater is, in fact, one who does not know that eating is an agricultural act, who no longer knows or imagines the connections between eating and the land, and who is therefore necessarily passive and uncritical—in short, a victim. When food, in the minds of eaters, is no longer…” quote by Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee3/wendell-berry-236_eater_the-industrial-eater-is-in-fact-one-who_2874592.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee3/wendell-berry-236_eater_the-industrial-eater-is-in-fact-one-who_2874592.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee3/wendell-berry-236_eater_the-industrial-eater-is-in-fact-one-who_2874592.jpg) > ““The industrial eater is, in fact, one who does not know that eating is an agricultural act, who no longer knows or imagines the connections between eating and the land, and who is therefore necessarily passive and uncritical—in short, a victim. When food, in the minds of eaters, is no longer associated with farming and with the land, then the eaters are suffering a kind of cultural amnesia that is misleading and dangerous.”” [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People forget that eating comes from farming, leading to passive, uncritical consumption and cultural amnesia. **In simple terms:** Eating is linked to agriculture; forgetting this harms awareness. Key Takeaway Reconnect food habits to its agricultural roots. Themes environment culture food awareness Mood reflective concerned Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - education programs - farm-to-table initiatives - policy advocacy Key Concepts agricultural literacy consumer consciousness Questions to Reflect On - How does personal food choice reflect broader ecological impact? - What steps can restore connection to land? A Different Perspective Cultural habits are deep; change requires systemic effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Eater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eater/) [Eaters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eaters-357789/) [Eating Agricultural](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eating-agricultural-1693864/) [Food](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/food/) [Industrial Eater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/industrial-eater-3951170/) [Victim Food](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victim-food-3951171/) ## Related quotes > [Eating is an agricultural act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/eating-is-an-agricultural-act/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Eating is an agricultural act. Eating ends the annual drama of the food economy that begins with planting and birth. Most eaters, however, are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/eating-is-an-agricultural-act-eating-ends-the-annual-drama-of-the/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“I don’t mind. I’m a kitchen eater from a long line of kitchen eaters.” The”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/i-don-t-mind-i-m-a-kitchen-eater-from-a-long-line-of-kitchen-eaters/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Eaters must understand that eating takes place inescapably in the world, that it is inescapably an agricultural act, and that how we eat determines,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/eaters-must-understand-that-eating-takes-place-inescapably-in-the/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“Eating is an agricultural act," Wendell Berry famously wrote, by which he meant that we are not just passive consumers of food but cocreators…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/eating-is-an-agricultural-act-wendell-berry-famously-wrote-by-which/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [“Eating is an agricultural act,' as Wendell Berry famously said. It is also an ecological act, and a political act, too. Though much has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/eating-is-an-agricultural-act-as-wendell-berry-famously-said-it-is/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [There are some things that I like, like education, wine, and I'd like to be a good cook, although I'm a pretty good eater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-wagoner/there-are-some-things-that-i-like-like-education-wine-and-i-d-like-to/) [Rick Wagoner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-wagoner/) > [I distrust the perpetually busy; always have. The frenetic ones spinning in tight little circles like poisoned rats. The slower ones, grinding away their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-slouka/i-distrust-the-perpetually-busy-always-have-the-frenetic-ones/) [Mark Slouka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-slouka/) > [There'sthemeat eaters and there'sus. And that'stheway I look at the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chrissie-hynde/there-sthemeat-eaters-and-there-sus-and-that-stheway-i-look-at-the/) [Chrissie Hynde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chrissie-hynde/) > [“Here march the eaters of earth, the swallowers of rain.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-aleksandr-wootton/here-march-the-eaters-of-earth-the-swallowers-of-rain/) [J. Aleksandr Wootton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-aleksandr-wootton/) > [ \[Government\] regulation is an imperfect substitute for the accountability, and trust, built into a market in which food producers meet the gaze of eaters… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-pollan/government-regulation-is-an-imperfect-substitute-for-the/) [Michael Pollan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-pollan/) > [“are two kinds of people: eaters and bakers. Eaters think the world is a zero-sum game: what you eat, someone else cannot eat, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-kawasaki/are-two-kinds-of-people-eaters-and-bakers-eaters-think-the-world-is-a/) [Guy Kawasaki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-kawasaki/) > [“We would all be better off dead, useless eaters of the lotus that we are.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moorcock/we-would-all-be-better-off-dead-useless-eaters-of-the-lotus-that-we/) [Michael Moorcock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moorcock/) > [My kids are crazy eaters. They have incredible palates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-burtka/my-kids-are-crazy-eaters-they-have-incredible-palates/) [David Burtka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-burtka/) > [I've got the drinkers and the smokers and the eaters on my side.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-daly/i-ve-got-the-drinkers-and-the-smokers-and-the-eaters-on-my-side/) [John Daly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-daly/) ## More by Wendell Berry > [During the last 17 years... I have been working at the restoration of a once exhausted hillside. Its scars are now healed over, though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/during-the-last-17-years-i-have-been-working-at-the-restoration-of-a/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Like the water of a deep stream, love is always too much. We did not make it. Though we drink till we burst, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/like-the-water-of-a-deep-stream-love-is-always-too-much-we-did-not/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [To husband is to use with care, to keep, to save, to make last, to conserve. Old usage tells us that there is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/to-husband-is-to-use-with-care-to-keep-to-save-to-make-last-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“The two families, sundered in the ruin of a friendship, were united again first in new friendship and then in mariage. My grandfather made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-two-families-sundered-in-the-ruin-of-a-friendship-were-united/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The living can't quit living because the world has turned terrible and people they love and need are killed. They can't because they don't.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-living-can-t-quit-living-because-the-world-has-turned-terrible/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“I knew a man who, in the age of chain-saws, went right on cutting his wood with a handsaw and an axe. He was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/i-knew-a-man-who-in-the-age-of-chain-saws-went-right-on-cutting-his/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“The concept of country, homeland, dwelling place becomes simplified as "the environment" -- that is, what surrounds us, we have already made a profound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-concept-of-country-homeland-dwelling-place-becomes-simplified-as/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [A community is the mental and spiritual condition of knowing that the place is shared, and that the people who share the place define…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/a-community-is-the-mental-and-spiritual-condition-of-knowing-that-the/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“That we can prescribe the terms of our own success, that we can live outside or in ignorance of the Great Economy are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/that-we-can-prescribe-the-terms-of-our-own-success-that-we-can-live/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [“The mind that comes to rest is tended In ways that it cannot intend: Is borne, preserved, and comprehended By what it cannot comprehend.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-mind-that-comes-to-rest-is-tended-in-ways-that-it-cannot-intend/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The mercy of the world is time. Time does not stop for love, but it does not stop for death and grief, either.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-mercy-of-the-world-is-time-time-does-not-stop-for-love-but-it/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [The soil is the great connector of our lives, the source and destination of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-soil-is-the-great-connector-of-our-lives-the-source-and/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [I dislike the thought that some animal has been made miserable to feed me. If I am going to eat meat, I want it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/i-dislike-the-thought-that-some-animal-has-been-made-miserable-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/laughter-is-immeasurable-be-joyful/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [These are people who are capable of devotion, public devotion, to justice. They meant what they said and every day that passes, they mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/these-are-people-who-are-capable-of-devotion-public-devotion-to/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) [Explore all 847 Wendell Berry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) ## More Eater quotes > [I'm an emotional eater. If something's worth celebrating, we're going to grab pizza. If it's going bad, girl, pass me the chocolate. Gotta keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurieann-gibson/i-m-an-emotional-eater-if-something-s-worth-celebrating-we-re-going/) [Laurieann Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurieann-gibson/) > [My little eater is 1 for me :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anbu/my-little-eater-is-1-for-me/) [Anbu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anbu/) > [There are some things that I like, like education, wine, and I'd like to be a good cook, although I'm a pretty good eater…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-wagoner/there-are-some-things-that-i-like-like-education-wine-and-i-d-like-to/) [Rick Wagoner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-wagoner/) > [“If you are a big eater, put a knife to your throat,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-fike/if-you-are-a-big-eater-put-a-knife-to-your-throat/) [Al Fike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-fike/) > [My dad was a great eater but Mum was the cook.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ainsley-harriott/my-dad-was-a-great-eater-but-mum-was-the-cook/) [Ainsley Harriott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ainsley-harriott/) > [My wife is a light eater. As soon as it's light, she starts to eat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henny-youngman/my-wife-is-a-light-eater-as-soon-as-it-s-light-she-starts-to-eat/) [Henny Youngman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henny-youngman/) > [Every one tells me that I'm a pretty fast eater. I'll sit down to a dinner, and I'll finish in two minutes while everyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-graham/every-one-tells-me-that-i-m-a-pretty-fast-eater-i-ll-sit-down-to-a/) [Jimmy Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-graham/) > [I'm a real meat eater.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-barnes/i-m-a-real-meat-eater/) [John Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-barnes/) > [I am a junk food eater.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-scaramucci/i-am-a-junk-food-eater/) [Anthony Scaramucci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-scaramucci/) > [A fire-eater must eat fire even if he has to kindle it himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/a-fire-eater-must-eat-fire-even-if-he-has-to-kindle-it-himself/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) > [She looks like a warrior. I mean, Bellatrix does mean warrior. And she's also a bit of a fatale. She's the right hand of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helena-bonham-carter/she-looks-like-a-warrior-i-mean-bellatrix-does-mean-warrior-and-she-s/) [Helena Bonham Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helena-bonham-carter/) > [I'm a really picky eater.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-roberts/i-m-a-really-picky-eater/) [Emma Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-roberts/) > [I'm definitely more of an extreme eater. I'm decadent on weekends and try to go plant-based during the week with a bit of fish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoni-porowski/i-m-definitely-more-of-an-extreme-eater-i-m-decadent-on-weekends-and/) [Antoni Porowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoni-porowski/) > [I'm a good eater and like to make my own meals. I start my day with granola, fresh fruit, and skim milk and end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaley-cuoco/i-m-a-good-eater-and-like-to-make-my-own-meals-i-start-my-day-with/) [Kaley Cuoco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaley-cuoco/) > [Brains like that, you could be a Death Eater, son.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/brains-like-that-you-could-be-a-death-eater-son/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 72 Eater quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eater/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The industrial eater is, in fact, one who does not know that eating is an agricultural act, who no longer knows or imagines the connections between eating and the land, and who is therefore necessarily passive and uncritical—in short, a victim. 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