From the workbench of the esteemed Horati0nosebl0wer

I was struck by a few thought as I was looking over a few Kickstarter projects after following the progress of things I’ve backed. It all started seeing a video about a supermarket service that sends you what they claim to be the best food items without the cost or ethical baggage.

I don’t want to be box shipped the wonder of exotic spice and flavor without experimenting and experiencing the thing firsthand. I enjoy the physical experience of the ingredients that go into my food. I’m willing to enjoy the process of creating said food for good or ill as learning how to make it myself if I want to repeat the process. I’m not a foodie. I have no feed of food porn that causes me to drool when the name of channels are mentioned. I might well be close to a spartan epicurean (let @avernos ponder that one and give historically relevant facts upon the idea) with that you might pair great drink to accentuate the flavors on minimal resources. Gastronomy is not something I study, leave that to the French and Michelin rating people, but what comes out well in taste is something I like to live. Good food can be had by simply expending the time and effort to make it.

I find the notion of instafood that isn’t crap ramen deplorable. Even when you’re scraping by on meager money making that humble foodstuff exciting and pleasant to stomach isn’t a chore but necessary in order to pull yourself out of the doldrums. The first world problem of stating before dinner “I’m bored of chicken tikka masala and I don’t want any African peanut stew” all the while a portion of the planet removed from their source of origin iritates me to no end. To pull out of a rush delivered bottle, a commodified meal that takes someone else’s real time and effort, and turn to complain that the flavor is boring or the fact it needs to be heated is too much of a bother gives me a headache.

The further point of making food an ethical dilemma is to address the point of Maslow’s hierarchy where one doesn’t need to be bothered by the question of “Is there food?”. Two places on opposite ends of the pyramid make for great fodder of addressing the ridiculous for their juxtaposition. Excel and build to great heights but realize you have to build on something “base” first. Food is just something taken in to keep the human motor running.

With my rant over I might add to this year’s “Try Eating/Drinking This” event for the OTT crew.