QuoteProject
Barbecue is an incredibly democratic food. It's cheaper than McDonald's in many places and far more delicious. On the other hand, the only reason it can be that cheap is they use commodity hogs, the worst of the worst, which is - you know, it's an industry kind of ruining North Carolina.
Michael Pollan
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Barbecue embodies a sense of accessibility and communal enjoyment, but it also highlights the ethical concerns around food sourcing.

Michael Pollan's quote on barbecue emphasizes its dual nature as an affordable, beloved food that encourages community and sharing. However, it also brings to light the hidden costs of mass food production, drawing attention to the ethical implications of using low-quality ingredients that can impact the local industry and culture, particularly in regions like North Carolina.

Themes

BarbecueFoodDemocraticAccessibilityEthicsNorth Carolina

In practice

Example use cases

During a community gathering, you might say, 'As Michael Pollan points out, barbecue is a food that brings us together, but let's be mindful of what goes into it.'

More from Michael Pollan

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
Michael PollanRead
You look how much sugar is in a typical supermarket loaf of bread: it's a lot of sugar. It's just become one of those sugar delivery systems in our food economy.
Michael PollanRead
There is nothing wrong with eating sweets, fried foods, pastries, even drinking soda every now and then, but food manufacturers have made eating these formerly expensive and hard-to-make treats so cheap and easy that we're eating them every day.
Michael PollanRead
Meat is a mighty contributor to climate change and other environmental problems. The amount of meat we're eating is one of the leading causes of climate change. It's as important as the kind of car you drive - whether you eat meat a lot or how much meat you eat.
Michael PollanRead
[Government] regulation is an imperfect substitute for the accountability, and trust, built into a market in which food producers meet the gaze of eaters and vice versa.
Michael PollanRead
He showed the words “chocolate cake” to a group of Americans and recorded their word associations. “Guilt” was the top response. If that strikes you as unexceptional, consider the response of French eaters to the same prompt: “celebration.
Michael PollanRead

Similar quotes

Don't you find it odd that people will put more work into choosing their mechanic or house contractor than they will into choosing the person who grows their food?
Joel SalatinRead
As far away as you can get from the process of mechanisms and machinery, the more likely your food's going to taste good. And that - that is probably the largest thing I can hand to anybody is let your hands touch it. Let them make it.
Mario BataliRead
Eating is the secret to good cooking.
Julia ChildRead
Jellies are to cold cookery what consommes and stock are to hot. If anything, the former are perhaps more important: for a cold entree - however perfect it may be in itself - is nothing without its accompanying jelly.
Auguste EscoffierRead
Food for us comes from our relatives, whether they have wings or fins or roots. That is how we consider food. Food has a culture. It has a history. It has a story. It has relationships.
Winona LadukeRead
I'd learned something... Food had power. It could inspire, astonish, shock, excite, delight and impress. It had the power to please me... and others. This was valuable information.
Anthony BourdainRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.