A Special
Afternoon Comrades and greetings from Lisbon. I know i said that I was taking a break this week but we all knew, especially me, that this is a pipe dream. Granted, it’s great to have a break from work but there is absolutely no way to switch off the brain, probably a good thing too but here we are.
I am writing this from my phone, on a train to the Atlantic Coast, a marvel in on itself and that means two things: no pictures - an annoyance as I have several that I wanted to share with you here and secondly, excuse any and all spelling mistakes.
We are going slightly off topic today, slightly as we will take about food, the internet, tourism, existence under Capitalism and so on.
Last night I was taken to a wonderful Tapas Bar here in Lisbon, hardly a rarity in a country that lives on Tapas but this one was special in the sense that it was way off the beaten, tourist, path and as a whole resembled a personal life dream. As some of you know I work as a chef, a dream in on itself and food is inherently important to me.
Side note- I am annoyed AF that this mobile option of substack isn’t allowing me to insert photos- but bear with me, i’ll try to be as illustrative as possible, ironically, this also being one of the main points of this dispatch.
Said restaurant is located directly on to a food and produce market, a rondel built in the 1940s that hosts a daily market until 2pm with several other small restaurants on its outer periphery.
It’s a small place, 3-4 tables inside and another 5-6 outside, run by a dedicated older couple that specialize in bringing in regional cheeses, vegetables and meats from their mountain village outside of Lisbon.
I love Tapas, irrespective of what part of the world they come from. I would much rather eat 6-10 different small dishes than 2-3 bigger ones and last nights offerings were mouth watering. It all started off with a mixed plate of cold meats, smoked and cured with 3 different cheeses, bread and olive oil, as well as some home made hot sauces and honey. This moved onto a garlic sautéed portobello mushrooms and quail eggs, 3 different types of fried chorizos, salads, more bread, mushrooms fried in olive oil and garlic, cherry schnapps, chocolates and white wine. I could go on but you get the point. All of this took 3-4 hours with plenty of chit chat with both owners about the people that they buy their food from, why and how they make it.
Now food, obviously is inherently political as much as it is both highly individual as well as communal. At home I try my best to work within my budget to get the best I can for us, meaning, both in terms of sustainability and health, for everyone involved. We all know how impossible that is for as long as food is made for profit and not understood as a part of eco-system. When I go out to eat, I try to find out the same about the restaurants and their chefs, and yesterday ticked most of those boxes.
As a starting point, though, a few notes about how food is political.
1. Access:
Access to food can be influenced by political decisions such as the distribution of resources and the availability of infrastructure. For example, food deserts, or areas without access to healthy and affordable food, often occur in low-income areas and are the result of political decisions such as the location of grocery stores and the distribution of food subsidies.
2. Agriculture policy:
Agricultural policy decisions made by governments can affect food production and distribution. For example, subsidies provided to large agribusinesses can impact the availability of certain crops, which can in turn affect the availability and pricing of food products.
3. Labor rights:
The food industry is heavily reliant on labor, including farmers, factory workers, and restaurant staff. Political decisions related to labor laws, minimum wage, and working conditions can impact the lives of these workers and affect the quality and availability of food products.
4. Health:
Food can have a significant impact on public health, and political decisions related to food safety regulations, labeling requirements, and public education campaigns can impact the health and well-being of individuals and communities.
5. Cultural identity:
Food is an integral part of many cultural traditions and identities. Political decisions related to immigration, trade policies, and food labeling requirements can impact the ability of communities to access and maintain their cultural traditions
Pictures, Social Media and Tourism
20 some years ago, a few friends and I in London had week long discussions about how we wanted to and should interact with the emerging internet in regards to our lives. The discussions ere centered around the idea that our sub-cultural interests were non-transactionary and existed solely due to everyone’s input, physically and mentally. Obviously, the internet, blogs then and nowadays social media, changed all that, and made all sun cultures inherently transactionary, both in terms of money and social capital: The more you knew, the earliest you knew the more rewards you were promised.
Hardly ironic that that later part was and is also a lie but that’s a different topic all together.
In any case, the consensus back then was that certain parts of our interest were to stay offline, a naive decision as all it took was money and promises of full time jobs at our favourite brands to sell out everything- feel free to connect that my own days and involvement in streetwear back in and around 2005.
I thought about that conversation last night. After some 15 years of participating in and on social media it almost feels like second nature to photograph and share every aspect of one’s life- and I took pictures of everything offered food wise yesterday with the intention of sharing it: no thoughts just vibes as they say, but even that is wrong. Tech companies such as Meta have professionalized the manipulation of its users to share everything, to the detriment of just about everything. Again, another topic of discussion, but a specific reality set in last night.
Specifically when it comes to tourism, several questions of consent and communal responsibilities have been ignored, especially in regards to our usage of social media.
I would have posted my food pics last night without having given thought to the reality that the owners of the restaurant might not want their place be exposed in such a way. There was and is a reason why their place is off the beaten path, why it “only” has space for 10-12 people and why it is “only” them two operating it. Not only had I not asked them for consent but I furthermore didn’t give a thought to the possible results of my actions: more people showing up that they apparently didn’t want or need there-
There is a good proverb in regards to tourism that, paraphrased, goes: the tourist destroys everything they seek and find.
Same goes here. The manipulated “feeling” of having to share my experience - again, it’s extremely unclear for what purpose other than ego - over shadowed my responsibility in a communal sense, posing that our sheer existence is, logical, political. Not so much in the sense of the important discussion in regards of privacy but additionally how these manipulated and monetized actions can and do have destructive effects, not mentioning the inherent non-consensual reality thereof.
It’s food for thought, something I wanted to share with you whilst on this lovely break from the usual routine. With the end of social media, both factually and as an example of the end of life as we knew it, on the horizon I hope that this helps a little. It is way over due to think about food and politics, as well as the politics of traveling, social media and consent.
To be sure, this doesn’t mean that these hugely creative and brilliant offerings of food and home aren’t to be enjoyed, on the contrary, those two are a huge part of the human connection, but our engagement with them needs a reset.
With that, my train is soon to arrive at the Portuguese coast and thus, thank you for your attention and time.
See you all here next week with the regular program.
Yours,
Steven.
Aproveite! :)