A lot of people would rather not know where things come from: in the US, you have to ask your fishmonger to keep the head and tail – it makes most customers queasy to realize their fillet had eyes. In Chinese culture, on the other hand, the head and the tail of a fish are saved for the most important guest at the table. That’s why I like this do-it-yourself booth at one of the Tainan (Taiwan) night markets. Passersby pay for a tiny fishing pole (actually a skewer) and squat at child-sized plastic chairs to pluck crayfish from plastic tubs. When they catch one, they can take it over to a small wood-fired grill where and prepare it as they wish – on the skewer they used to fish it. It is an elemental experience: fire, water, and earth in the form of delicious crispy shrimp. Would we eat differently if we could experience the life-cycle of food? Maybe, or maybe not. But we should be able to know it.