There was a time when showcasing wealth and privilege required you to show off your car or mansion, but now it can be shown in subtler ways such as through food.It’s as simple as having your daily 300 rupees matcha latte or hand pressed juice bottles from a gourmet grocery store after your pilates session. High-end supermarkets market not just products, but also lifestyles which make access to a healthy lifestyle exclusive and indicative of oneās social status. The hardwood shelves, earthy tones, and warm lighting give it a more boutique than grocery-store feel. Glass bottles of kombucha, jars of ālocally sourcedā jams, and baskets of heirloom tomatoes, all organized create an Instagram-able moment.Ā
Groceries, what were once mundane and essential have transformed into a luxury or novel ideaāindicative of the growing economic divides that impacts food practices globally. Whether you buy a bag of spinach from a high-end grocery store like Whole Foods or Erewhon, you are not just buying groceries; you are buying status. Be it a farm-fresh egg with a bright orange yolk, a bag, hand-harvested sea salt, or organic heirloom tomatoes, all of these are marketed as specialty items only available to those who can afford those prices.
The consumers who fuel this trend did not emerge out of nowhere. Social media has overwhelmingly contributed to the rise in gourmet grocery culture. To embezzle something as mundane as grocery shopping and fuel consumerist culture requires years of brainwashing consumers. Influencers such as Emma Chamberlain and Nara Smith frame food shopping as a leisure and aspirational activity, making it more than what it actually is: a necessity. For example, Emma Chamberlain’s enthusiasm for plant-based snacks or obscure brands of matcha is still connected to social capital and food choice. A $20 aƧai bowl or a $10 bottle of coconut water isn’t just a food itemāit says that you’re a member of an affluent and health-conscious social group.
In times where customer satisfaction is the core of business, we often let problematic practices seep into businesses. In addition to expensive cold brew and kombucha, gourmet grocery culture also includes the commercialization of traditional food as luxury items. Immigrant cuisines have been appropriated, stripped of their cultural context, and rebranded as premium diet food. Gourmet grocery culture also comes with a problematic hierarchical culture of moralizing consumers. Whole food and erewhon shoppers who purchase sustainable and organic options are seen to be āhealthierā and āenvironmentally responsibleā in comparison to those who rely on fast food and processed foods. This is problematic, to say the least, as it completely ignores the layers and nuances of the structural issues of food access and inequality.
If ethical shopping is to have any real impact, it needs to move beyond gourmet supermarkets and influencer culture. Food markets must be reshaped to ensure that sustainable, healthy food is accessible to all, rather than just people with means to afford it. Ethical purchasing can become meaningful (rather than performative), if agricultural workers are paid more, if we support local farmers’ markets, or if we expand access to affordable organic food in low-income neighborhoods.Ā
Having the time, knowledge, and access to the correct resources is much more important than spending a lot of money. While ethical eating and sustainability matter, they should not just signify another trivial token of luxury. The true essence of ethical shopping lies beyond expensive organic produce in a high-end gourmet grocery and imported superfoods. Awareness and acknowledgement of the social, economic, and environmental impacts of our food choices is the first step towards mindful consumption. When grocery stores promote ethical and sustainable consumption by bumping up prices and excluding the very communities who help produce the goods, it creates a paradox of sustainability i.e. of supporting a status symbol rather than a collective effort.Ā
