Upper-class food vs. lower-class food

A NY Times article headline reads “Warnings Don’t Deter Lovers of Sushi”. (This is in response to yesterday’s number-one-most-emailed NY Times article about how tuna sushi contains unsafe levels of mercury.)

When low-class food, such as McDonalds, is alleged to be unhealthy, the upper class condemn it, and celebrate movies (such as Super Size Me) that demonize it. But when upper-class food is found to be unhealthy, the same people ignore the warnings. The anti-McDonald’s crusade is mostly about rich people feeling smug about their superior upper-class tastes in food.

Comments

Not just mercury. There is a parasitic worm that is sometimes found in sushi. I have heard a thorough chewing will kill it. But sometimes the mercury in fish is from naturally occuring mercury, not pollution.

[dearieme]

Why would you eat sushi if you could afford decent smoked salmon? How odd people are.

[John Smith]

The anti-McDonald’s crusade is mostly about rich people feeling smug about their superior upper-class tastes in food.

In terms of status posturing, or hatred of the McDonald's chain?

[roissy]

as part of my working definition of morality, self-serving status posturing ranks right up there as an important factor in deciding what to exalt and what to disparage.

btw, wasn't morgan spurlock born in WV to a prole background? no faster way to climb the status ladder than to betray your own tribe.

[superdestroyer]

HS,

Your theory goes along with people believing that a wine tastes better when they are told that it is expensive.

Of course, the upper class knows that it can make the middle class chase their collective tails. As soon as the middle class stopped bowling, then hip bowling came along. Now it is rich 20 somethings going to Las Vegas because the middle class goes to local casinos.

[meep]

So can we get our transfat-laden donuts back, dammit?

[Peter]

There is a parasitic worm that is sometimes found in sushi. I have heard a thorough chewing will kill it.

Fish destined for use in sushi is quick-frozen to kill any stray parasites. Tuna is an exception, because it is naturally almost parasite-free.

I don't necessarily agree that Mickey D's is "lower class food." It pretty much cuts across all class lines, even if the less affluent may be among the more frequent consumers.

So can we get our transfat-laden donuts back, dammit?

Not until it is considered "hip." Please refer to the comment on bowling above. I hope you won't have to wait too long. It took quite some time before John Deere hats could be worn in an "ironic" sense. Those idiotic "castro" hats are now in fashion, so who knows? But maybe you could start eating those donuts now and get ahead of the curve.

The class resentment/shadenfraud is showing through here.

There are several important differences here, the most important being that lower-class people tend to make unhealthy fast food a staple of their diet resulting a significant preventable health problems that society pays for.

Sushi is not a staple food, and there is a growing awareness among the upper-class that seafood in general is bad and should be taken in small doses (ask any pregnant yuppie). Yuppies are not crowding ERs with symptoms of Hg poisoning.

Fish destined for use in sushi is quick-frozen to kill any stray parasites. Tuna is an exception, because it is naturally almost parasite-free.

Too bad about that. I though for a minute there I was being edgy and living dangerously while adding some excitement to my dull, drab life. No places I know of serves fugu either. I guess it is back to driving through Newark late at night.

[JewishAtheist]

Another ridiculous post. (Hundreds of? tens of?) millions of people eat fast food every single day. Comparing that to sushi ingestion is like comparing cigarettes to microwave popcorn.

[tommy]

I enjoy the the bigger portions you get with lower-class food. Give me a double whopper or a pastrami sub over uncooked fish any day.

I've tried sushi and while it isn't awful, I wouldn't want to eat it on a regular basis. I hear that getting worms is not uncommon among sushi fanatics either, in spite of measures taken to prevent such contamination.

When it comes to ethnic cuisine, I prefer good Italian, Mexican, Thai and Vietnamese food. Mongolian stir-fry is pretty damn good too. I also second the vote for smoked salmon over sushi.

Too bad about that. I though for a minute there I was being edgy and living dangerously while adding some excitement to my dull, drab life. No places I know of serves fugu either.

Don't worry! There are places online that sell uncooked blowfish. (They come with a warning: "not for human consumption." These are the same kind of places that sell Psilocybe mushroom spore kits and the like...) You'll have to do the cutting yourself. Good luck and live dangerously!

tommy,
Next time I drive through Newark:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYzsskE5ObA

[John Smith]

Unfortunately for the vegetarians, I haven't been able to find the mozzarella sticks High milk prices?) or veggie burger.

[tommy]

Next time I drive through Newark:

Ha!

[Nanani]

Of course sushi can kill you, that's part of the appeal. See also : fugu.

By the way here in Japan, sushi is neither high class nor low class because it is far too broad a category. Salmon, being cheap, is on the lower end of things along with cucumber maki and various non-fish rolls.

Classy sushi is expensive and comes from rarer fish. If you don't live in a coastal area, you are not eating high class sushi no matter how much the restaurant charges.

[David Alexander]

Next time I drive through Newark:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYzsskE5ObA

Obviously I must be of low IQ. I drove through Newark along local streets at 3AM in the morning, and I stood at a street corner outside of my car talking with my cousin. Oh, I've ridden the Newark City Subway, and I've taken photos alone at several stations with expensive film equipment.

[Spungen]

btw, wasn't morgan spurlock born in WV to a prole background? no faster way to climb the status ladder than to betray your own tribe.

Oh, if only. I'm skeptical. Wikipedia says he graduated from NYU with a BA in film at age 23. He may have grown up in WVa, but remember every state, every town, has its rich people. He seems like the type who'd lie to fit a meme.

HS, could they possibly fit any more mayonnaise on that Swiss Angus burger?

[David Alexander]

HS, could they possibly fit any more mayonnaise on that Swiss Angus burger?

Spungen eats with her prole clients at McDonalds? I didn't know that being attorney paid so poorly...

[Spungen]

I like sushi too. But I tried the Swiss Angus bc HS recommended it. It was so dense, it created an event horizon at my duodenum.

Hey David, which is better: Church's, Popeye's, or KFC? ;)

[David Alexander]

Hey David, which is better: Church's, Popeye's, or KFC? ;)

Shudder. I eat KFC in the dark-tinted windows of a girly SUV in far away suburban locales so nobody can see my shame.

I prefer KFC over Popeye's. In contrast, from what I've seen most black people seem to disagree and prefer Popeye's and the various "Ghetto Fried Chicken" places that imitate it.

BTW, I've never had Church's Fried Chicken.

[David Alexander]

I like sushi too. But I tried the Swiss Angus bc HS recommended it. It was so dense, it created an event horizon at my duodenum.

I've tried the other two burgers in the McDonalds Third Pounders premium burger line, and judging from my random samples, I am unlikely to bother with the Swiss burger. Either I'll just go to Wendy's if I'm in a rush or the diner if I have enough time. The burgers are okay, but I don't think it's worth the premium that McDonalds is charging for them.

BTW, my weakness at McProle is the Quarter Pounder with Cheese and Chicken Selects.

[madeline murray o'hare]

Spungen,

Props on your use of the word "duodenum".

You have accomplished in 24 days what most people fail to accomplished in a year.

[Half Sigma]

Yeah, I gave up on the Angus Burgers because they were too dry and had too much Mayo.

Best burger in Manhattan is at Burgers and Cupcakes, on 9th ave three blocks north of B&H Photo. So next time you are buying some camera stuff, make sure to stop buy and have a quality burger.

[David Alexander]

Best burger in Manhattan is at Burgers and Cupcakes, on 9th ave three blocks north of B&H Photo. So next time you are buying some camera stuff, make sure to stop buy and have a quality burger.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'm always looking for places in Manhattan where I can eat alone without the shame of looking like a loner prole trying to enjoy middle class food. Plus, it's an inducement to walk around Hell Kitchen for once instead of repeating the same walk around Broadway in SoHo.

[Half Sigma]

Burgers and Cupcakes is a waiter service restaurant (although an inexpensive one) and not a fast food place.

[David Alexander]

Burgers and Cupcakes is a waiter service restaurant (although an inexpensive one) and not a fast food place.

It's obviously a waiter service restaurant, but the location and low prices implies a slightly loner prole-tolerant environment. I'm more likely to walk in there alone than in a suburban Applebees or urban Italian restaurant. For loners like myself, diners have been a great hiding spot, but the addition of fast casual restaurants has been a boon for those of us who want to spend a little bit more money to get slightly better food, but without the embarrassment of eating alone.

[Half Sigma]

Burgers and Cupcakes attracts a hip white collar lunch crowd. It's definitely not a prole place.

[ogunsiron]

I don't eat at McD's at all. I just feel that it's way too expensive for the crap that it is. I'm actually quite a fan of fat food and i try to sample the stuff while i travel . My usual fastfood is lebanese, which i switched to I switched to 10 years ago. Montreal seems to be absolutely teeming with falafel/shit taouk places . I haven't seen anything similar in the USA at all. Some more interesting fast food is the turkish stuff one can find at all hours of the day and night in Berlin. The portions are gargantuan ! I haven't been yet to asia but I'd love to sample those huge nighttime food courts I've heard that they have in hong kong and china .