Simon Wilson eating Kentucky’s finest
Here we go again, I’m writing about KFC.
Simon Wilson’s critique of KFC has some problems. He believes that KFC is ‘fetishized,’ and is “the celebration of crap.”1 He also makes the link that impoverished people celebrate and eat KFC the most. He has good intentions, but because of his privilege as a fine dining writer, he appears to not recognise wider socio-economic issues.
KFC, as Madeline puts it, feeds a lot of people for a low price.2 That is what the appeal of KFC boils down to. If you have the privilege to experience supposedly better quality food, like Simon, then the appeal of KFC disappears.
Then he sees people ripping through bucket after bucket and assumes, because he does not like the taste, that it must be some sort of fetishized cult. When in reality, it is a way for many people to eat for less. Because of its cheap nature, he then makes the connection that it is those in poverty that worship KFC the most.3
I have some problems with this.
Firstly, KFC being cheap allows for people to eat together on a tighter budget. However, my friends and I can attest to this, you do not need to be in poverty to eat KFC.
Secondly, while obesity does affect people in poverty more4, it’s not because they fetishize fast food, as Simon says. It’s because of incredibly complex socio-economic issues that are hard to understand unless one has experienced poverty. Although his intention is to help, he ends up completely missing why people eat KFC because of his privilege. So, before you critique what other people eat first you ‘gotta check yo privilege.’
- Chapman and Wilson, “The food critic and the rookie head to KFC.” ↩
- Chapman and Wilson, “The food critic and the rookie head to KFC.” ↩
- “Am I overstating it? The BBC reported just last week that children in poverty are twice as likely to be obese by the age of five than their least-deprived peers. Twice as likely.” – Chapman and Wilson, “The food critic and the rookie head to KFC.” ↩
- Chapman and Wilson, “The food critic and the rookie head to KFC.” ↩
The way you’ve looked into the reason people eat KFC is really interesting. I like how you explained that we can’t generalise or easily explain what living in poverty is like without having experienced it, and that you “check yo’ privilege” by explaining that you eat it with your friends too. It’s so interesting that people who can afford to eat more expensive foods still eat KFC, as a choice rather than out of necessity. Obviously, no one eats with the sole intention of becoming obese, so I’ve always wanted to know exactly what the appeal is (mostly so that I can stop myself from eating junk food too), but it would be interesting to compare even more people’s opinions and reasons for eating junk food, if they’re not simply a “celebration of crap.”
I love your blog post Marco because I so agree! In Sociol 105 we studied culture and how those in power are the ones who decide what his ‘high’ vs ‘low’ culture. However, some scholars (and myself) believe that anything and everything is equally cultural!
To claim that KFC is the celebration of crap is to say that what people believe and love is less valid because of the subject (KFC), I find this attitude elitist and kind of gross!
But I say this knowing I’m hypocritical, I constantly judge people for their choice in television or online entertainment – I guess when we make these judgements there needs to be an understanding of the wider contexts and influences.