I had never considered food as a reflection of our changing society until Professor Tom Bishop highlighted the relevancy of food in Shakespeare’s writing. The session made me come to the realisation that food, like most things, experiences a cyclical lifespan, where historical views are moulded to fit contemporary attitudes and brought to popularity once again. Lately there has been a revived interest in the idea of ‘clean’ eating, while the rise of social media has contributed the necessity of meals looking aesthetically pleasing. The two priorities have combined together to form the perfect food of our generation: the salad bowl.
Salad bowls exemplify a distancing from the manufactured nature of inferior processed foods, while displaying a beauty in consuming ingredients in their natural state. They are symbol of a generation and also a symbol of wealth. To be able to purchase a bowl consisting solely of vegetables signifies the privilege of adhering to a certain dietary lifestyle, and the socio-economic status that can afford the often exorbitant prices that come with it (avocados have risen to $10 in some areas). Celebrities such as the Kardashians are rarely spotted consuming anything other than a large container of greens, while many Instagram posts have featured bright lighting, a marbled countertop, and a colourful salad bowl.
I don’t think that the salad bowl is a negative item, in fact, perhaps the opposite is true. It is better to promote an item that is beneficial to your health than a food which contributes to future heart disease. However, even the simple salad bowl is a reminder of the at times divisive views we have towards food.
Photo: Various pictures of the Kardashians consuming salads, taken from their show Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
I think you are absolutely right. Salad bowls have become a myth that symbolises all things natural, healthy and of course, expensive. Its simplicity and intactness elevates its value of being something healthy and quite different. The popularity of salad among celebrities, models is hardly surprising as ‘healthy lifestyle’ is a core part of their branding and public image. Even if the public’s obsession with salad bowls is sometimes caused by pack mentality, societal pressure or body shaming, salad bowls will nevertheless still be healthier than a double cheese burger.
I definitely agree with some of this, that being the way that food often has class connotations even if they aren’t explicitly recognized. Salad bowl? “I’m not only healthy, but I’m rich” comes across pretty strongly with this food. I suspect people know this deep down but suppress it.
It is interesting how during Shakespear’s times food was closely associated to the personality that you had, and in today’s heavily mediated society food has again gained momentum to reveal more about our individual idntities than just our food preferences. sellers of salad bowls are no longer only selling leaves in a bowl, they are selling the idea of a heathly, chic lifestyle, strengthened by celebrities and influencers. People who buy salad bowls not only show their prefernce to salads but more or less a sense of “look at my healthy” life. Through ideologies such as this, it can be agrued that food has always in some way or another been more than a simple mean of survival but like clothes are a tool for self-expression.
I think this is such an interesting way to consider not only food trends, but the way we feel compelled to label all things around us and assign things greater connotations than they inherently carry. The ways in which we represent commodities such as the salad bowl ultimately allow these products to play a part in the way we view people who follow certain trends, fads, or diets. The salad bowl is indeed much more than that, it is a manifestation of the age of obsession with image, and the power that products have in shaping the ways we see the world.
Salad bowls have defintiley become a symbol of wealth and power. It’s interesting, because anyone has the ability to make their own for a more affordable price if they grew their own vegetables. It has the potential for accessability and efficient management of finances in the long-term. The fact that salad bowls have been assoicated with elitism has blurred this reality. When people eat salad bowls, I think it supports an idea of superiority – that they’ve overcome the temptations of more ‘indulgant’ foods that those around them have succumbed to. It makes me wonder if it will lose its reverance as they continue to grow more popular, or if its growth will translate across class divides and people will begin adopting a more ‘home-grown’ approach.