Pity the Food Snob
On Slate, Daniel Gross laments the plight of the poor ol' food snob, as gourmands must now face the double blow of skyrocketing prices in addition to the environmental impact of their high-falutin' cravings.
Once you start paying close attention, it's very hard to justify, in any economic climate, the prices of many food-snob essentials: $14.99 for a pound of wild ramps, $43 for a liter of Italian olive oil, etc. And since most food snobs are also good liberals who savor their expensive bounty while lingering over the Sunday Times, the contradiction can be sickening. We're spending obscene amounts on food we don't need at a time when so many others are genuinely struggling to pay for enough basic sustenance to get them through the day.
Are you a food snob? Is there something you won't give up no matter what the price? Have you already given up certain indulgences?
Related: How to spot a food snob [SnobSite.com]
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
10 Comments:
Unless I'm going to donate to food charities the $15 I would have spent on ramps, I don't quite see the contradiction. It seems like paying farmers more for their work is a good thing. I am sad that people less fortunate than I am will have a harder time making ends meet, but feeling guilty about my own dinner is counter-productive. I will, instead, donate to food charities and write to Congress about the Farm Bill food stamp program.
Matcha at 3:02PM on 04/30/08
Matcha, I agree with you. There is a conflation of issues here. Spending more on wild, foraged, hand raised or hand crafted items is nothing to be ashamed of. That's part of the solution. Continuing to support the industries that have caused this food crisis is the problem.
simon at 3:38PM on 04/30/08
Besides, if I'm busy spending $14.99/lb on ramps at the farmers' market, doesn't that leave all the more cheap rice in the world for those lined up at their local costco?
dagoose at 3:54PM on 04/30/08
I might be a food snob, but I don't see why I need to justify the amount I spend on food, or anything else for that matter. As far as the environmental impact of Italian olive oil, I'm not sure that it's greater than the Wesson that non-snobs are buying. The local [non-snob] mega-supermarkets are full of cheap Chilean fruit and Mexican vegetables and New Zealand lamb. That's evidence of a problem that has nothing to do with food snobs.
juliec at 4:38PM on 04/30/08
Absolutely, there's a conflation of issues. If I can fit healthful, unprocessed, sustainable foods (in some cases that means organic, in some cases local) into my budget -- a budget that includes substantial charitable donations -- how does that harm people who are struggling to get by?
And what a stupid, easy, cheap shot at the NYT.
Fiksu at 5:08PM on 04/30/08
Let's give up the pricey food and give the money that we would've spent on it to the people who can't perform. Wow, what a concept. It's called socialism and every society who has tried it has failed. It's the classic liberal feels guilty mentality.
mtsod at 5:19PM on 04/30/08
mtsod, you really have no idea what you are talking about, and you (and the rest of us too) would be better off if you kept your infantile comments to yourself.
simon at 5:27PM on 04/30/08
Oh my laws, yes!
*handkerchief held daintily to forehead*
I have had to switch from beluga to osetra!
wookie at 5:52PM on 04/30/08
personally I dont feel the least bit guilty when I get in my 8 yr old paid for compact car and drive to the grocery store and buy more expensive ingredients with money I worked hard for. Not even when I see a mother with 3 kids in tow filling her cart with junk food and high end meat, paying for it with a state debit card(food stamps), and then getting into a 20,000$ suv with custom wheel covers etc. I'll keep buying my expensive oilve oil as long as I can afford to.
huney_bumper at 8:51AM on 05/01/08
I am a "food snob", but my favorite foods are "cucina povera" or they would be if I lived in the hills of Italy. What I buy from the Greenmarket are mostly greens, roots & tubers, and fruit. Nothing I love more than brocolli rabe with white beans garlic and dried red pepper, or crusty roasted potatoes and winter squash with dried rosemary, winter soup made out of dried chick peas & a couple of dried mushrooms and their soaking liquid...good healthy food doesn't have to be fancy or expensive. A bottle of good olive costs the same as a bottle of decent wine and lasts much longer!
bauwau2u at 11:05AM on 05/01/08