ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to take the latent, general affinity between gastro criticism and Michel Foucault's concept of the monstrous a step further, by means of concentrating specifically on food-based monstrosities in contemporary fiction and, in particular, genetically modified food. Ethico-political ambiguities entanglements and ambiguities will be fleshed out through reference to Foucault's forgotten alimentary monster and its questioning of the natural as well as through some key debates in eco critical thought. The fact that the content of the category of the 'monstrous' or the 'unnatural' changes historically suggests that what is considered as 'natural' is also changeable. In this way, the very existence of the natural as such is fundamentally challenged. In order to flesh out the profound ambiguities, it is useful to first put the deification of nature identified above in a wider context – the context of 'deep ecology.
