Judgments About Food as a Proxy For Class
“Like little ships set out to sea, I push my spoon away from me.”
I grew up eating dinner with my family every night. Once my parents had both gotten home from work and my sister and I had gotten home from school, the four of us would sit down at our dining room table. In general, I wouldn’t say that my family is particularly formal, but for some reason we always sit at the dinner table. Whenever I eat with just a fork I get called out, even if my food doesn’t need to be cut. Without realizing it, these specific table manners got ingrained in me over the years. I immediately notice when someone holds their fork differently, and without meaning to or even knowing I’m doing it, I jump to a whole list of conclusions about that person.
We judge people for their food: both what they eat and the way that they do so. It would be possible to fill entire rule-books with the do’s and don’ts of eating at a formal dinner, and somehow these rules tend to go unquestioned. I’m often reminded that it’s impolite to break these guidelines, but it is more complicated than simply being rude. These guidelines were a way to distinguish the elite from the poor during a time there was a superiority associated with being rich. According to National Geographic, table etiquette was historically a method of demonstrating that you belonged in the upper class. Power was held by the wealthy, and politics were conducted at fancy gatherings; without the proper manners, it was challenging to have a voice in decision making. Although this is no longer overtly the case, the association between etiquette and class is still ingrained in society. If someone showed up to an official dinner at the White House and chose to only use a spoon rather than a knife and fork, people would talk. There is no official rule saying that this is prohibited, but it’s not the behavior we expect from our leaders. We still expect the rich or powerful to behave in a certain way, and when people don’t follow those manners, we make assumptions about their backgrounds. In many ways this appears arbitrary, because it has persisted throughout the decline of many comparable societal measures. Although the standards of table etiquette have been relaxed, they are still very prominent today, and still align with class distinctions.
[pullquote]We judge people for their food: both what they eat and the way that they do so.[/pullquote]
It is also common to judge people for the food they eat. In the United States particularly, fast food is more accessible than meat or produce. Through fast food, there is widespread access to quick, cheap meals that require no preparation. For many people who don’t have easy access to healthy options—because of a food desert, a lack of transportation, or long hours that prevent cooking—that convenience holds significant appeal. These factors are a possible explanation for the high correlation between obesity and poverty noted by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. However, people don’t tend to consider this as they judge the people buying unhealthy food. In general, people see someone buying food, quickly glance at their body type, and make a whole list of assumptions about the character and choices of the individual. When someone who struggles with obesity orders fast food, it is easy to assume that they don’t care about their health, rather than consider other potential factors. I have heard conversations that have absolutely stunned me when someone who is even slightly overweight is buying fast food. The hypocrisy of the people around me was astonishing; they conveniently ignored that they were eating the same food as the person had just condemned.
[pullquote]The hypocrisy of the people around me was astonishing; they conveniently ignored that they were eating the same food as the person had just condemned.[/pullquote]
What to eat is a personal choice that has developed into a supposed marker of much more. In a burger, people see a disregard for health concerns, and in sushi they see a pretentious and costly lifestyle. Simply by looking at someone’s diet, people believe they can determine someone’s motivations and background. A study in The Economist argues that this is because of the correlation between class and food habits. They found that people who had graduated from college were much more likely to have eaten prosciutto in the last year than those who only had a high school education.
In a culture that is very uncomfortable with talking about class, these discrepancies perpetuate those divisions without ever being discussed. Although it is rarely recognized, we come up with a very different set of assumptions if someone is eating quinoa with a fork than if they are eating fries with their fingers. Since it is not an easy conversation, these stigmas are perpetuated, and when they are acknowledged it is almost never in the context of class. Unfortunately, the more we try to deny this connection, the harder it is to separate the two, and the more we will perpetuate these preconceptions.
Annie Johnston ‘21 studies in the College of Arts & Sciences. She can be reached at annie.johnston@wustl.edu.