Eating, a Simple Form of Consumerism

 Serena Becker

Geog Response Paper

March 23rd, 2021

Eating, a Simple Form of Consumerism

    In the reading The Eaters and The Eaten, the author discusses the most fundamental and human form of consumerism: eating. As with most forms of consumerism, the experience and consumtion varies from class to class. The author makes an argument that eating, having meals in particular, is a completely different experience to the peasant consumer than it is to the rich consumer. 

     The peasant and the bourgeois have two very different views on what the significance of food is and what a meal represents. For the peasant, a meal is a celebration of hard work that is highly centered on the food itself and the act of eating. The author of the article specifically puts emphasis on the rythm and flow of the peasants enjoyment of their meal, everything is focused on eating and valuing the food. The author illustrates this rythmic value of the food,  "the plate is kept throughout the meal, and between dishes it is cleaned with bread which is eaten"(pp. 371). The act of the peasants not allowing things go waste shows an emphasis on the value of food and how it means so much more to them than a simple event that occurs daily. Likewise, when peasant have a feast it is not only a celebration of a rare and special event, but also a celebration of the surplus that provides that feast they enjoy. To the peasant life is seldom focused on avoiding boredom, but instead living in the moment and savoring all that it holds. The bourgeois has a very different approach to mealtimes and feasts. For them, a meal is not significant because of the food but rather because of the social event that the meal offers. The wealthy center their meals on entertainment and cultural reoccurrence. The author puts a special emphasis on the wealthy finding more enjoyment in the drama of the evening rather than the actual food they are consuming. The food is also a form of entertainment for the eaters, not something they need to ever worry about being in need of. 

    I think that this article uses a simlple aspect of life to paint a broad picture of what coonsumerism looks like and how it manifests itself in different forms. On one hand, the consumption of goods is for survival and taken with gratitude, on the other the consumption is done for the sake of entertainment as a way to excape the dreadful boredom that lurks around every corner. As I read the article something that stood out to me particularly what the times at which the different groups of people had their meals. For the hard working peasant they took their most significant meal at the center of their day, surrounded by work. For the Bourgeois, the meal was in the evening when everyone was present to provide discussion and drama. This stood out to me because it shows the value of a meal for a hard working person and how human it is to just enjoy a meal simply for the food and the hardwork that provided that food. The author points out that all food enjoyed represents a job done for the peasant, and I think that view on mealtime is very human.