Carne

“Nos olvidamos que nuestro destino es también convertirnos en alimentos.”
We forget that our destiny is also to become food.
— Inari Reséndiz, Pido perdón y pido permiso exhibition text, 2026

Restaurante Tierra del Sol, Chef Olga Cabrera. Oaxaca, México

I spent this past weekend in Oaxaca during Día de los Muertos, one of the most symbolic times of the year, in a city at the intersection of cultural heritage, artistic expression, revolutionary thinking, and colorful celebration. While wandering the city, we came across a gallery showing Isabel Sánchez Salgado’s Pido perdón y pido permiso. The exhibit builds on her experience growing up among butcher shops in Etla, Oaxaca, a region with strong ties to ranching and animal consumption.

Rather than simply critiquing today’s globalized meat industry, the exhibit asks how we can re-establish the intrinsic bond connecting all the carne on our planet. In Spanish, carne means both meat and flesh, making the relationship evident; in English, we separate the food on our plates from the bodies we live in. The exhibit asks forgiveness for how disconnected we’ve become from the aliveness of what we eat, and permission to find a new path. It asks permission to keep trying until we arrive at something in harmony with the values that shaped what we now call tradition.