on eating

[dyskodyke]

So, there's some privileged shit going on over at food_porn (what else is new?) and in discussing it, I thought this might be a good time to link back to that entry I made a while back about the SF Hunger Challenge. Reading about ppl trying to live for a week off a food stamp budget was a really enlightening and humbling experience for me, and I think it's

Comments

[ariansdreams]

I'm not gonna lie, I'm kind of a snob about baking. So boxed mixes do kind of annoy me (as does frozen dough for anything but the most finicky things like phyllo), because I know I could make it taste better and cheaper and healthier from scratch. That said, I rarely bake cake because it is not my most favorite dessert, so it is kind of a moot point. And it's not like I refuse to eat stuff made from boxes...I just would never bake it myself. Also I grew up on boxed cakes and I was fine, its only as an adult that I've kind of become a little snobby about it. And it is about privilege...I have the time to bake. I baked chocolate chip cookies and bread from scratch today. Because I didn't have to work. I'm fully aware of that.

But on the other hand...I have made stock from scratch ONCE. And honestly I don't care to repeat the adventure. I can see myself doing it if I have a leftover chicken carcass sometime, but since I generally only buy breasts, that's probably not going to happen anytime soon. I like me some boxed stock.

[dyskodyke]

Right, but deciding that you personally are not going to use boxed mixes (and esp recognizing it's a privilege) is different than being enraged that boxed mixes even exist and that some ppl would be lazy/stupid/etc. enough to use them.

I've made homemade stock twice and both times kind of sucked and also I don't feel like I could really taste an amazing difference? But I also know that I'm lucky to have access to reasonably priced and delicious Central Market organic stocks. Living in LA it was a ton harder to find MSG-free stock for less than like $4/box, which is when I just resorted to veg boullion cubes. Which I still use sometimes.

[layers_of_eli]

I so think you should link to that post on food_porn. It's fantastic and so apt.

[dyskodyke]

It's not very porny, tho, which is why I'm not sure if they'll accept it. I mean, I get that we foodies want a space to post/think about deliciousness and not have to be burdened by our privilege, and my post does the exact opposite of that. On the other hand, I think all posts have to be mod-approved, so maybe I will give it a try.

[layers_of_eli]

Oh, yeah, I don't know about on the community in general, but I was thinking in response to the OP on that post. Though that might be received as a tad confrontational, I guess.

[dyskodyke]

Well, all posts have to be mod-approved, and the info does say that "food for thought" is an appropriate topic, so I submitted it. We'll see what happens.

As for now, I'm stepping out of the current debate, b/c it's not going anywhere. That congruency bitch is...well, a bitch, and really ignorant, too. She just told me she understands what privilege is, and that making food isn't a privilege for most ppl in developed countries. HA. Maybe someone needs to go visit a food bank sometime. How can ppl be so willfully ignorant?

[seeinglife]

I make all my own stock. It's fairly time consuming, creates kinda a lot of dishes, and I'm pretty sure that it doesn't actually work out cheaper than boxed stock. It's just delicious and full of all sorts of nutrients (like calcium from the bones!) and not full of salt-- and there's another load of privilege right there. The privilege of nutritious food.

Orzo salad sounds pretty tasty, tho I'm not sure about the feta. Last time I tried feta I hated it, but I also think I wasn't old enough to vote, so... heh!

[dyskodyke]

I think it'd still be tasty without the feta. If you still wanted to get that salty tang, you could use olives or capers, if you like them. I happen to love feta, tho, so I think you should give it another chance!

[seeinglife]

I HAAAAAAATTTTE olives D:

[4hour_ramona]

i use boxed cake mixes an' shit all the time! not because i'm to lazy or whatever to go from scratch, but because i have better things to do with my time. the economics of cooking and baking, for me, also include what my time is worth. and if i want cake, i want cake! i'll rip open and stir in and pour into a pan, but i do not want all the finding the almond extract + digging out the sifter + cleanup + all that. just gimme the cake, please. i'll wash one bowl, but all that other flibbidy, no thanks.

ok, maybe that is a little lazy. but whatever. now i want cake... mmmmm. cake!

and if people can bake cakes from scratch, underwater, with their eyes closed, all day every day - that's actually very cool!

sorry i don't grind all my flour myself

[dyskodyke]

Now I want cake too.

I will sometimes bake from scratch cakes there are not mixes for (yogurt cake, my gma's apple cake) and every now and then I'll bake Alton Brown's yellow cake for M, b/c he loves it. But most of the time: box. Brownies, too. I'm with you on not wanting to mess with ingredients or lots of dirty pans. Like, I haven't made it in forever (over a year, maybe?) but when I really want to impress I sometimes bust out my tres leches cake, which is amazing, but also requires mixing everything in separate bowls and heating the tres leches on the stove top and it takes HOURS and omg, it is delicious but it's not very often I can bring myself to make it.

Re: sorry i don't grind all my flour myself

[layers_of_eli]

Oooh Alton Brown's yellow cake, huh? Must bookmark...

Re: sorry i don't grind all my flour myself

[dyskodyke]

It's really good!

[sssnarlene]

so with you. i'm torn b/c i do like food, reading about it, looking at it, enjoying it, etc., but a lot of the "foodie" stuff makes me uncomfortable, because it is seems so decadent and self-congratulatory without any perspective or awareness.

[sssnarlene]

and there's this whole generational, class-related aspect, where the farther "we" get from the trashy boxed processed foodstuffs, the better/more morally superior (not just physically healthier) "we" are. the cycle of it is just so weird, though. our generation feels like they "discovered" all this stuff like gardening & whole foods (actual whole food, not the store), when obviously this was the original way of doing things (grandparents generation), and "our" parents' generation were the ones who were barraged with modern-day "products" touted as being superior to the farm-y stuff, and many of them really thought these products were better, and got used to using them, and fed their kids on them.

[dyskodyke]

YES. Def with you on the generational thing. And the problems with foodie-ism in general. I also love reading about/looking at food, and generally I do so in the food_porn community without much problem, despite my annoyance at the snobbery that pops up when ppl start playing the "that's not porny enough" game. But I do try to be aware of my privilege here. And maybe it's not my duty to make others aware, and normally I don't, but when along with a pretty picture and a recipe comes a condemnation of ppl who use box mixes, ugh. It's like DUDE, STEP BACK AND LOOK AT YRSELF. That so many ppl in that community (or at least, in the big argument that's going on in that one post) don't even realize that HAVING FOOD TO EAT (nevermind having nutritious food, or food you know how to cook) is a privilege just blows my mind. Like you said: no perspective.