Wendell Berry, a Kentucky farmer, is the author of more than 40 works of essays, fiction, and poetry. His books include the novel Hannah Coulter, the essay collections Citizenship Papers and The Way of Ignorance, and Given: Poems. Berry’s latest works include The Mad Farmer Poems and Whitefoot, which features illustrations by Davis Te Selle. He lives and works with his wife, Tanya, on their farm in Port Royal, Kentucky. “The Pleasures of Eating” originally appeared in the collection of essays What Are People For?, and is copyright © 1990 by Wendell Berry. Reprinted by permission of North Point Press, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC.