"real food for real people"

[tielan]

So.

The worst thing about this challenge has been seeing how innately racist some of the people doing the challenge are.

The FB group for the last couple of days has been full of posts about going back to 'real food' or 'proper food' or 'things you can actually eat', because rice, lentils, chickpeas, and sardines (also: vegetable oil and flour) are, apparently, not food eaten by real or proper people.

Which...I shouldn't have to explain that here. I feel like I want to do that over there thoug.

Language matters. We know the difference between 'asylum-seekers' and 'refugees' vs 'queue-jumpers' and 'illegals'. Implying that the food we've been eating isn't 'real food' lays a stigma on the people stuck eating these rations day after day after day. After a while of having to eat this, refugees probably don't feel very 'real' either - caught in that no-man's-land between the life they used to have back home and the life that western governments very much don't want to allow them.

I'm trying to find a way to bring this up as politely and clearly as possible. I know there will be many people who'll dismiss this as an issue, because OMG AREN'T YOU TRIGGERED but...there might be a few people who will at least think about what they're casually Othering and the effect that has on both their perspective and the perspective of people around them.

I wonder...several of the people I saw posting about their stuff complained that they weren't getting any fundraising. But...if your underlying attitude isn't innately empathetic to refugees and people who aren't like you, then people probably aren't going to take your sudden desire to 'help' refugees very seriously.

Comments

[lilysea]

I saw this link that may be relevant to your interests:

Don’t Yuck My Yum: Kids Books That Dismantle Orientalism & Food Shaming
https://booksforlittles.com/orientalism-food-shaming/

[tielan]

Yes, I saw that! And it was exactly what I was looking for about the context of how we describe things that aren't in our 'typical' experience or expectation.

A pity that these people aren't kids anymore. (And I'm wondering how many of those books are available here in Aus.)

[lilysea]

All food is real food, unless it is, for example, that fake-fat designed not to be absorbed by the human body[1].

[1] "Olestra/Olean is a fat substitute that adds no fat, calories, or cholesterol to products."

[lilysea]

The FB group for the last couple of days has been full of posts about going back to 'real food' or 'proper food' or 'things you can actually eat', because rice, lentils, chickpeas, and sardines (also: vegetable oil and flour) are, apparently, not food eaten by real or proper people.

Possible alternatives:
"going back to my usual food"
"going back to my typical food"
"going back to the food that I am used to"
"going back to Western food"
"going back to more calorie-dense food"
"going back to richer food"
"going back to more luxurious food"
"going back to meat and dairy"

[tielan]

Yup! And that's how I've been talking about it.

(Then again, those staples all appear occasionally in my regular diet, so it's 'real food' to me, it's just this week I've been eating them without spices, herbs, meat, dairy, or any of the usual things that add dimension to the food.)

[wpadmirer]

Wow. It's like they did the challenge because it was trendy. They probably also always do the latest cleanse.

When I was in my 20s I suffered with food insecurity. I know what it's like to be really hungry. (I once lived off a 50 lb bag of potatoes and a box of sticks of butter for a month.)

I've had malnutrition.

Real people eat whatever they can when there is nothing else. Fake people demand proper food.

[kore]

Yeah, that feeling of "I can't eat this, but I'm so hungry, and I know I have to eat it because I'm hungry and it's all I have" is really something.

[wpadmirer]

Yeah, when you're really hungry, you eat whatever is there.

[tielan]

I think they're well-intentioned, but it's like "nice white people" and racism. Too often they're giving with one hand and taking away with the other...

[wpadmirer]

Yeah, they're the kind of people who have that one really nice black friend. (grin)

[james]

I suspect that if you made a post to the group, people doing it would act offended and say things like "well I just mean the food I'm used to" or try to justify it somehow, no matter how polite you are.

If they're already talking/thinking that way, being confronted doesn't tend to make people change their minds. But if you said things like "well I'm used to eating this food, but normally more of it and with additional fresh veg" and so on.

The best way to change someone's mind is to ask them carefully-worded questions, and lead them into changing their own minds. But it's a lot of effort and tends to work best one on one.

[tielan]

This is true. I've posted about this morning and just noted that I'm eating all the same things as the ration challenge, just with all the things that we're fortunate to have, since - like for many people - these staples are the reality of my food just not the whole of it.

[velithya]

I hope your post was received positively!

[kass]

Ugh God that is awful.

[tielan]

Rather frustrating and a little depressing, tbh.

[umadoshi]

*cringes* Oh, people. ;_;

[tielan]

Oh people, indeed.

I don't think most of them even thought about what it meant/implied.

[kore]

because rice, lentils, chickpeas, and sardines (also: vegetable oil and flour) are, apparently, not food eaten by real or proper people.

//BOGGLES at the idea of rice and legumes not being "real food"

-- Wait wouldn't these people probably try to get lentils and chickpeas into their ordinary diets sometimes? Is it "real food" then?

[tielan]

Some would, but probably not the "back to real food" crowd...

[beatrice_otter]

:facepalm:

[booksarelife]

Uggh, I’m sorry