Should food be a topic that requires us to take up and defend a political or ethical position?
As I sit writing this, I realise with a mild degree of surprise that today (just for a day) I joined the growing ranks of an insidious movement. Their members walk amongst us under the guise of family members, neighbours, and friends. They sow their seeds of idealism across social media; slowly infusing themselves into every facet of cultural life. These people are not terrorist sleeper cells – no – they are far more dangerous than that. I am talking about vegetarians.
For most of my conscious life, my eating habits were something that remained wedded into an unquestioned part of my identity. I, along with 94% of New Zealanders regularly eat meat[1], to the point where a day without it is an oddity. However, the time has come to redefine the way which we think about food; to make, in the words of Dr Emma Sharp, “ruptures in the logic that sustains “the alternative”, “the conventional” and other false dualisms.”[2]
The very language I used to describe vegetarianism (though in jest), is a central mechanism underpinning the hegemony of the meat industry. Why must we think of eating meat as ‘normal’? Why is the erosion of ethical and environmental sanctity accepted as a necessary evil to sustain our consumption? This module has helped me to understand the importance of food for society; to realise that to ‘defend a political or ethical position’ regarding food is not only productive, but necessary to move forward as a conscious consumer.
References
[1] Vegetarianism & veganism. Retrieved April 2, 2019, from https://www.healthnavigator.org.nz/healthy-living/eating-drinking/v/vegetarianism-veganism/
[2] Sharp, E.L. 2017. (Re)assembling foodscapes with the Crowd Grown Feast. Area 50(2):266-273.
I found your blog truly hilarious – I can definitely relate to the perspective that Vegetarians are more dangerous than terrorist sleeper-cells, as my Dad’s favourite dinner-time remark is “the day society collapses is the day I put flowers in my hair, start wearing sandals, stop using deodorant and eat salad three times a day.” (There is a reason why my April Fool’s joke this year was to profess that I was now a devout Vegan!)
You talk about the imperative to ‘politicise’ food to further advance conscious consumerism. However, if our understanding of food is subjective (as I haven’t yet heard of a fruit-whisperer), can we confidently claim that what we are advocating for is morally ‘right’? Moreover, one could argue that the dire situation the planet is in right now is a RESULT of our desire to politicise food in the first place, imposing on different foods our subjective ideas surrounding ethics and desires relative only to our times.
I personally agree with your belief that we cannot merely be passive participants in a broken food industry. However, I can see the potential pitfalls that arise when (as the old saying goes) the pot calls the kettle black.
Thought this was a very interesting read- as a vegetarian/ on-off vegan who enjoys ice cream (which yes, in itself is a hypocrisy). Announcing this new dietary lifestyle to my rural- NZ “blokey-bloke”Dad was not something that went too smoothly. “What about New Zealand’s dairy industry?” he said. Well what about the excessive resources and sentient lives poured into said industries?
While meat-eaters love to joke about vegetarians and vegans, I agree with Dr Emma Sharp’s view that we must pursue alternate food norms to sustain the world- and if this means giving up cancerous meats (https://www.cancercouncil.com.au/21639/cancer-prevention/diet-exercise/nutrition-diet/fruit-vegetables/meat-and-cancer/) then so be it. There appears to be a mindset that being plant-based makes one weak. But really, who is more weak? Someone who can give up a dangerous and simply unsustainable way of life or those who so fervently defend it?
Thank you for this blog- very thought provoking, and definitely awakened my inner- angry vegetarian stereotype !