erinmargrethe:
indefensible:
TLDR version: Rich people think poor people are so stupid that they can’t even make the right decisions on what to eat. Imagine what they think of poor people’s ability to make political decisions.
Here’s why taxing “junk” food is bullshit:
I don’t see the government trying to lay extra tax on me when I’m preparing a roast chicken by rubbing a whole stick of butter under the skin. Or when I heap a giant spoonful of expensive sea salt on my homemade mashed potatoes (which are made with another yet another stick of Tasmanian butter). There’s no extra tax on the heavy cream that I buy to make homemade ice cream. Or on the lard I buy to make tortillas from scratch. What about the full-fat ground veal, lamb, beef and pork I bought at the butcher to make ragu? None of that stuff is particularly healthy, but because I have the luxury of time, a nice kitchen and the expensive appliances to prepare it all, I’m rewarded by not having to pay the extra tax that I would if I bought a frozen lasagna or ready-made mashed potatoes from the deli counter. There’s no denying it’s class issue, and it’s enough to put me off my fatty, sugary home-cooked food.
I’M TAKING ON THE WHOLE CONTINENT NOW, BABY!
Quickly, because I have to go to a dinner party that I’ve spent the day preparing a duck for (oh god I wish I was joking).
First, I’d suggest that all of those wonderfully delicious foods you’ve listed have the distinct quality of being food not processed food products that are now being proven to contribute to obesity more so than naturally occurring fats and sugars.
More science is showing that taxing junk food tends to be more effective than subsidizing “healthy” food.
I agree that it’s a bit unfair to say that a Snickers bar is taxable junk where a pound of butter isn’t but it also strikes me as unfair that I’ve already subsidized, via the farm bill, most of the wholly unnatural substances – your trans fats and corn syrups – in that Snickers bar.
I really must be going now, I’m afraid the confit simply won’t turn out at all.
indefensible:
The current war on obesity is really just class warfare by proxy. The rich may no longer criticise the poor simply for who they are, so instead they demonise what they eat.
The flipside of this is the wholly indefensible shift to so-called organic foods, which are the socially-acceptable way for the rich to consume more resources than the poor while still feeling holier than thou.
That’s a compelling thought and one that I’d probably agree with, even as a white, male, middle class, arugula eating member of the proud liberal West Coast elite, were it not for one distinction: the industrially manufactured, highly proceseed food that we’re eating, that is directly responsible for the obesity epidemic, is quite literally killing us. Farmer’s markets vs. processed food arguments aren’t Mac vs. PC, where we have the luxury of aesthetic distinction, or even liberal vs. conservative, they are truly matters of quality of life.
To be clear, I’ll agree on some basic points: that food is cheaper than it’s ever been in human history is, for the most part, a good thing. That access to clean, healthy food (and water) by an enormous population of the planet is a good thing. That we, particularly in the industrialized world, generally don’t need to worry about the safety of our food and don’t need to worry that the chicken breast we’re eating might kill us that night, is most certainly a good thing. The advancements in production and distribution of food, in manufacture and oversight are most certainly a net benefit.
But the pendulum has swung too far. The scourge of industrialism is too ingrained, the ubiquity of chemical additives has become too prevalent. And it’s slowly killing us. We’re living longer and have more disposable income but at a cost to our quality of life. Our so-called cheap food is being paid for in our health and healthcare system.
Does this mean I think it should be a matter of public policy to tell us what to eat? Probably not, at least not directly, but I also think that our public policy should stop subsidizing our own unhealthy behaviors. I don’t know about Australia, Ross, but here in the U.S., our multi-billion dollar corn subsidy is what makes a Coke made with corn syrup cheaper than one made with sugar. And it’s what allows for a 1200% markup on soda at fast food restaurants. (Given the nature of global macroeconomics, I’m pretty sure our corn subsidy is making its way into your diet too, even on the other side of the planet.) End that subsidy and you end those cheap calories that are causing obesity. When a Coke stops being so cheap that it’s a no-brainer, when people are forced to think about their eating decisions, maybe they start making healthy ones instead of letting their lizard brain just choose sugar, sat and fat.
It’s an oversimplification to be sure but no more so than saying rich people demonize poor people because they are fat. Part of why I started writing Salt & Fat 1 is because I wanted a place to talk about food and share what I’m cooking in the hopes of inspiring and, cheesy though it may sound, help people understand that cooking doesn’t need to be a mystery, that it’s important and that everyone can do it. We’ve been incredibly lucky and I’m filled with pride that over 2,000 read our silly posts and maybe even cook more than they would have before.
Hurl invective at the Jamie Oliver’s and Michael Pollan’s of the world if you will, I certainly think they deserve fair criticism, but recognize that they aren’t simply trying to make rich people feel better about themselves (that sounds more like Martha Stewart to me). The people that will learn and benefit the most from their efforts are the ones who can now use food stamps at farmers markets, who will send their kids to school with decent lunches, who cooked their family dinner instead of just picking up a bucket from KFC. That’s not class warfare, that’s living decently.
why aren’t I writing this over there, anyway? Mostly because, after a few misfires, Neven and I decided to really focus on what we can do in the kitchen instead of talking grandiose or linking off to the latest food craze or controversy. It means fewer posts but hopefully more quality. I’m still happy to wax philosophic here, though. ↩︎
