Caviar

How much do you make? What kind of car do you own? How big is your house? These questions paint a picture of one of the most important qualities in modern society. Status. Status alone can determine several aspects of our lives, such as where we study, the people we know, and the food we eat.  

Since I am caviar, this social hierarchy is very visible to me.

I am seen as a symbol of wealth because only the rich have the privilege of enjoying me. However, even among caviar there is a hierarchy; Almas caviar is more expensive than American caviar. Thus, a hierarchy breeds more hierarchies. For instance, if I have a mansion, there most likely will be someone else with a superior mansion. Despite my wealth, I will be saddened at the fact that what I have is not the best and I will desire the mobility to move upwards and have a better mansion. This proves humanity's desire to constantly have more and never be satisfied and reveals that "all they think of is money." This mentality leads to those at the top of the scale not being able to relate to those below them. All of us are supposed to created equal (s/o to Neil Garg), yet we are not. The environment in which we are born in can shape the rest of our lives. Some may argue that despite where we are born, our destiny is entirely in our hands. However, this is not true because there are so many factors that we do not have control over, such as the education available in the area or the presence of community leaders. Status by definition is a social construct because it depends on the status of those around you. The class divides that exist among both humans and food must be decreased if we are to have an equal society.  

An Ugly Tomato

We don’t always get what we want. This is a sad truth to life that is often realized too late. However, we cannot be punished for what we do not have, especially when it comes at no fault of our own. Yet, society often finds a way to punish those non-conformists who do not strive to achieve the “ideal” quality.

Every year, “6 billion pounds of perfectly edible produce is wasted every year” (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/19/food-waste-ugly-fruits-and-vegs-dont-judge_n_7309432.html) only because that produce is deemed ugly. As an ugly tomato, this greatly saddens me to know that so many of my brothers and sisters are being thrown away simply because someone can’t bear to look at them. 

Me

In fact, many of these fruits are still perfectly good on the inside but no one wants then simply because of their exterior. If you think about it, the way that produce is bought is so messed up. Fruit is only judged by the brightness of its color and its shape. Consumers don’t care about what is inside, when in reality, that is the only part that truly matters in terms of flavor. Also, some fruits have access to good sprays that makes them look shinier and hormones that make them fuller in shape. So, the status of a fruit directly affects its perceived beauty. How can fruit be judged based on its outside appearance when something so dependent on luck as status is can have consequences on it?  The fact that we are even called waste is psychologically threatening as “our waste” is “dumped” on the grounds of society (205). All we are seen as is a waste of space and a mistake or an imperfection in the system.  Humanity is so hypocritical; you preach that beauty standards are detrimental to society, yet you force the same upon fruits. So, I urge you, the next time you are in a store please buy an "ugly" fruit and maybe it’ll turn out to be the best one you’ve ever had.

Ramen Lives Matter

I’m tired of ramen getting a bad rep. Everyone thinks that we can’t be like caviar, or that we can’t be the most glamorous meal out there. It’s disappointing that whenever someone looks at ramen, they automatically assume that a college student on a low-budget is eating it; they assume we are a food made for poor people. Also, our native Japanese culture has disappeared as America has created “instant ramen.” Apparently, eating too much of us can cause disease. According to many, we are a poor among the rich variety of foods that exist today. Have you ever seen ramen as a gourmet food or portrayed as something to be appreciated? No.

Everyone thinks of this when ramen is mentioned:

Although, we can look like this:

We need to be metacognitive and recognize that the way we think about ramen is messed up. That last picture is probably surprising because you’ve never seen gourmet ramen in your life before. How strange is it that such a main food is not usually seen on the cover of major food magazines? All that people see is the most delicate Italian pasta or the perfect salad. Imagine how that makes all of the little ramen feel. They grow up with no hope because they have never seen anyone that looks like them ascend to food stardom. Many of my friends “believed that they were ugly”(38) or that they weren’t good enough. This is a sad reality of the way life works and it needs to be changed. We must realize that ramen can be appreciated for its value, ramen can be powerful, and ramen must be listened to if we do not wish to alienate a large member of food society.

The Bluest Cheese

As a piece of blue cheese and a member of food society, I always appreciate it when authors incorporate food in interesting or important ways in their novels.

Blue Cheese

An excellent example of this is The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Often times, she uses food to describe situations or objects where one would not expect it. For example, she compares love to “Alaga syrup” and mentions how she could “taste it.”

Because syrup is sweet, she is trying to explain how the love shown to her by her mother is very sweet. However, because syrup is unhealthy, she makes a larger point about love and how it has the capacity to be harmful. Another example of this is when she describes Maureen Peal as having “fluffy sweaters the color of lemon drops.” Instead of just saying yellow to describe her sweaters, Morrison uses lemon drops to create an image of manufactured and false brightness.

This shows how Maureen is a false person and is someone who cannot be trusted. Also, Maureen Peal is nicknamed Meringue Pie by Frieda and Claudia which is another example of food.Meringue Pie is a white food with fluff on the top which represents the whiteness of Maureen and her dislike of darker people.

Another example of her use of food is the ice cream incident involving Maureen, Pecola, Frieda, and Claudia. When the four of them are walking Maureen pulls out a “multifolded dollar bill” in order to buy ice cream. However, Frieda and Claudia don’t have money to buy their own ice cream. This reveals the large class difference between whites and blacks and how it affects the girls in their everyday lives. She also shows Pecola’s dependence on Maureen to buy her ice cream which symbolizes the dependence of blacks on whites and how blacks were not able to accomplish anything without whites being involved. Another use of food is when Pecola buys “Mary Janes” from the store owned by Mr. Yacobowski. 

This incident reveals racial tensions because Mr. Yacobowski is afraid to even touch Pecola’s hands because she is a black girl. The only reason he ends up touching them is because he gets money out of it. Because of Pecola’s humiliation, she leaves feeling ugly and unwanted in society. The use of food in this novel is very carefully done and the audience should pay attention to it in order to extract deeper meaning.