Tofu stir-fry: the proof of inner authenticity
We all have that one
vegetarian friend. Or, hang on, that whole vegetarian group of friends. On
second thoughts, which one of my friends isn’t
a vegetarian or otherwise following an in some way restrictive diet?
Perhaps I attract
them; I’ve often been told that I have the ‘vegetarian (malnourished?) look’
and people are surprised when I reveal that I do, in fact, eat meat. But it
isn’t mere coincidence: an increasing part of the population is becoming
concerned with the wellbeing of the planet, animals and above all, themselves.
Let’s take butter as a
quick example of our changing mindset. The origins of butter go back to when
our ancestors first started domesticating animals. In India, ghee
(clarified butter) is a symbol of purity and a staple food. It has been offered
to the gods in religious ceremonies for more than 3000 years. For thousands of years,
people have prized butter for its health benefits. Suddenly, however, butter
began to be labeled as the primary source of health-damaging saturated fats:
the major obstacle between us and our good health. Concerned
mothers of baby boomers, believing the advice of margarine manufacturers,
started to replace butter with the man-made oils. An interesting side-note is that research has actually proven the
contrary: organic butter, in moderation, is far healthier than its man-made
counterpart.
We are all suddenly
becoming more aware of the potentially animal, environmental and health-harming
by-products of food: magazines, television programs and food-labels provide
extensive information that is bombarded at us daily. A lot of money is put into
the investigation of the above mentioned.
Rather than just being
a result of advances in scientific research however, there seems to be
something more fundamental at hand in our increased awareness: the need to rely
on one’s inner authenticity. In
other words, in a world that is experienced as unstable and constantly
changing, it is becoming increasingly important to be grounded in oneself. And you are what you eat, after all.
In Weber’s thinking
about post modernity in Kenneth Allan’s Classical Sociological Theory, the
shift from emancipatory politics to life politics is mentioned. Life politics
are based on personal lifestyle choices and create a kind of grounding in
oneself; a framework of trust by means of which your life can be understood as
a unity against the backdrop of changing social events.
Understood in this
way, being a vegetarian, vegan or in any other way actively expressing certain
principles by restricting or being more aware of food-intake can be seen as a
lifestyle that brings harmony between the inner and outer world.
Looking at it from
Weber’s chief characteristic of modernization, rationalization, one could say
that this interference with one’s diet is a reflection of how less spontaneous
people are becoming. Gone is intuitive eating or truly enjoying our food. Our
minds have become calculators of calories, fat and sugar and are making
judgments (this chicken has probably suffered, spaghetti carbonara will make me
fat, non-organic apple-skin is loaded with pesticides) at a terrific speed. We no longer trust the wisdom of past
generations or how our own body reacts to certain foods. Rather, the only
trustworthy information out there has become the opinion of experts. We let our
decisions (whether we include dairy or soy milk in our healthy diets, for
instance – temporarily forgetting the differences between low-fat, semi-skimmed
or full-fat) depend on the knowledge of experts (soy milk has no cholesterol
and is better for the environment).
Life is being brought
back to the individual. Keeping your body healthy or developing certain
principles related to what goes into your body is becoming a way of retaining
control over our unreliable world.
This is where the
concept of individualism, discussed by Simmel, comes in. As a result of
modernity, individuals become increasingly separated from the collective and
more independent from social circles which had a big impact on their lives
before: family, the church and the village. Ultimately, you rely on yourself,
is the conviction. Anything that strengthens the notion of being a unique
separate entity, such as a well- thought out set of principles, a way of
dressing, eating, etc. is gladly grasped.
The issue at hand can
also be linked to domestication and alienation, something Marx talks about. Domestication
refers to the degree to which people control their biological and natural
environment. The use of fire, agriculture and natural energy are tools we have
used over the years to develop a greater control of the world. Globalization,
capitalism, the development of transportation methods and a good infrastructure
have led to a mass-production and distribution of food (control) all over the
world.
We have become
increasingly separated from the production process of food; most of us don’t
have a clue where the food on our plate comes from. That food is becoming increasingly
processed doesn’t exactly help either. An interesting reference is that to
Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. In the TV-program, he holds up several
vegetables to children, asking them what they are called. Most of them aren’t
even able to identify a tomato, let alone a cauliflower. A first glimpse at a
small piece of fried chicken, however, unleashes the immediate cry: ‘chicken nugget!’
According to Marx,
that which makes us distinctly human is creative production. We become aware of
our humanity as our nature is reflected back to us by what we produce. If we
become alienated from the production process in the modern world, being a
vegetarian, vegan, etc. can be a way of regaining control and knowledge. We
can’t control how our food is made or where it comes from, but we can derive
inner authenticity and power by the
choices we make.
In Durkheim’s theory
of modernity, he mentions how, as the division of labour increases and with it
the level of structural differentiation, people become different from one another.
This creates pressures for a more generalized culture and value system.
Although vegetarians
and vegans often make their authenticity more pronounced, ‘staying true to
yourself’, ‘following your heart’, ‘finding your calling’ and not ‘following
the herd’ are important principles for everyone nowadays. Being an authentic
individual is something that transcends social groups and is universally valued
in modern society.
In short, the four
dimensions of modernization (differentiation, rationalization,
individualization, domestication) as discussed by Durkheim, Weber, Simmel and
Marx provide an interesting backdrop against a closer look at different aspects
that are tied to closely monitoring one’s diet. Just like our clothes, our
likes and dislikes and our beliefs that make up parts of the complicated
structure that form our identity, following a special diet can be seen as a ‘security
blanket’ of some sort, providing us with the relief that aside from the confusing outside world,
there is some comfort and stability to be gained from one’s own person. Inner authenticity
has become our rock in a sea of chaos.