Arugula Wars: Food As Partisan Politics

Photo: Guy Hand

A few days ago, I came across a fantastic audio piece by food critic and independent radio producer Guy Hand.  In his introduction to the piece he writes, “food has an incredible ability to bring people together…..but it can also divide.”  As someone who grew up in Texas, I realize people eat differently across this country, but is it really divided along political party lines?

I interviewed Guy about this idea, fittingly bringing red and blue sides of the country together by telephone wire (he’s currently based in Boise).  We had a great conversation and I think it will shed light on his decision to make this piece.  Take a read…and most important, take a listen.

PRK: What made you think of this story?  Did you have a specific experience that provided the impetus to make it happen?

GH: This idea has been below my radar for quite some time. Food is a symbol of class and politics and ethnicity. It’s always around but I guess most of the time it’s a bit invisible.  I was looking back on the last presidential campaign and there were tons of references to food as political.  What kind of mustard was Obama using? Domestic? Foreign?  It’s truly an old issue: there has always been a demonized food that symbolized “the other guy.”

PRK: What was the most interesting piece of information that you learned?

GH: While the piece itself is mostly humorous, there is some research on the subject of food and how it divides people into different groups.  I am sure there is even more than what I found.  There was a study done in 2008 that linked your belief system with how things taste.  Food actually tastes better or worse depending on how a food fits into your value system. For example, chain restaurants might rub people the wrong way.  If you’re at some place that you feel good about…the food is likely to taste better.

PRK: What do you hope listeners take away?

GH: I think people must realize that food is a symbol for other things.  One of the things I read while I was researching was from an anthropologist who said food is a rich symbol for other things because it’s one of the few things that engages all of our senses.  Food has emotional power that we can invest in other things.  Ultimately, what’s interesting about food is that it s a symbol for so much else.

PRK: What is your preference: iceberg or arugula?

GH: [Laughs] I would say I’m more of an arugula person.  You know, I reviewed a very conservative old-fashioned restaurant a year ago and I thought I was going to hate it.  They had an iceberg lettuce salad and it was really, really great.  Delicious. I wrote that into the review; none of these foods are necessarily evil food, it’s the categories we put them into.

To listen to ARUGULA WARS, click HERE