Saturday 2 October 2021

'Working Class' Foods?

Food writer, Jonathan Nunn, is obviously bemused by a British tendency to judge someone's socioeconomic class by what they eat (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/02/food-choices-proxy-class-britain). Nunn suggests that some foods are regarded as 'working class' and others as 'non-working class'. He lists some foods, recently specified by Brits, as signifying 'middleclassdom'. They include almond milk; avocados; coffee; croissants; falafel; gnocchi; goji berries; hummus; kidneys; lemons; lentils; loose-leaf tea; muesli; oat milk; pasta; polenta; quinoa; risotto; soy milk; sun-dried tomatoes; tofu and even wine. People growing any of their own foods, Nunn says, are also suspected to be 'middle class'. He points out that most of these 'middle class' foods are actually cheap staples from other cuisines. They may indicate to some that their consumers have 'cosmopolitan tendencies'. Nunn suspects that some foods received the middle class label because they were served in fancy London eating establishments. These restaurants were frequented by some politicians, demonised in the Brexit campaign, as 'metropolitan elites'. The restaurants described their dishes as 'peasant foods' but served them at 'eye-watering' prices. Nunn maintains, entirely reasonably, that food is a totally inadequate signifier for class, politics or even urbanism. People eat particular foods for a variety of different reasons. In addition to cost, there may be religious or ethnic background considerations. Some people may be following a vegetarian or a vegan diet. Others may be avoiding foods to which they have allergic reactions. In addition, fashions of food consumption rapidly change. It never has been the case, that all working class Brits have a bacon and egg breakfast, followed by an evening meal of fish and chips or meat with 2 vegetables!

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