I like eating out and have been working in the restaurant industry for years. Recently, a restaurant that I love going to was called out in the media because an employee was posting racist content and mocking the people from which the food he cooks originates. Lots of people came forward to accuse the restaurant of cultural appropriation, basically saying that white people ran the restaurant and benefited from another culture’s cuisine, whitewashing it for a quick buck.
I’m confused by this. Chefs are always influenced by other cuisines, and I think it’s good to appreciate other cultures. I would hate to live in a country where we couldn’t eat food just because it’s from elsewhere. But I also understand the point about appropriation, because the food at this restaurant is severely overpriced and to be honest I don’t think people would pay so much for it if it wasn’t being cooked by trendy westerners. There are also many authentic restaurants serving this type of cuisine that are just as good, but struggle because they are made by the natives of that country, rather than English people. I think that matters, because it feels like 21st-century colonialism in terms of the white man (of which I am one) nicking ideas and getting credit for it.
I’m now in two minds. I don’t want to contribute to something so toxic, if people are pillaging ideas from another country with no sensitivity or humility. On the other hand, I don’t know how much difference boycotting this sort of thing makes and the idea of cultural appropriation in food in general makes me uneasy. The food is tasty, it’s nearby, and it’s talked about a lot, so I guess there’s a thing about going there to feel part of a scene. I know that’s a bad thing to say but I won’t lie and pretend it’s not part of my calculation. However, I would definitely be convinced to properly boycott it if I felt like the company would notice or suffer from it. What do you think? What should I do?
I reckon I ask myself this same question most weeks in the year, and I don’t think I always make the right choice. The thing is, you can’t boycott everything. The other thing is, you can’t sideline your conscience every time you have a moral dilemma just because you can’t boycott everything.
In truth, your power to starve this business of revenue is very little. Americus Reed, a marketing theorist who focuses on identity, tells me that by and large, boycotts don’t work, especially if they have no specific aims, like yours: “Boycotting will hurt the company in terms of your [pounds] but you’ll probably be replaced by another customer. Unless the clientele of that restaurant are similarly minded to your reader, it probably won’t make a big difference.”
For me, however, your question isn’t really about stopping business for the restaurant. It’s how you feel about giving money to them. The latter isn’t actually a precondition for the former, but making it one is an easy way to let yourself off the hook from doing what you think is right. You mention cultural appropriation and I sense that you believe there are good ways and bad ways of taking from another culture. In this case, it sounds like you think the company have dealt with it badly: disrespecting the culture and its people. You seem to indicate that this incident was more than just a blip, and in fact represents the broader culture at the restaurant.
It’s good that you have been honest about what keeps you going back, because that will help you to properly figure out what to do. You basically like this restaurant because it’s convenient and holds a kind of cultural status. Are there similarly convenient restaurants you could go to, that aren’t at odds with your moral identity? Indeed, if cultural appropriation is something you are concerned about, is there a more authentic restaurant that you could support nearby instead?
A final thing, Reed warns that “moral peacocking” or being vocal about an issue in a public way can actually detract from a cause: “Sometimes this kind of faux outrage leads to less action – we check out after saying something because we feel we’ve taken a stand, when actually we haven’t.” I don’t think your outrage is false, but it’s always good to check in and see who you are signalling to when you make a statement, and whether your energy is best invested elsewhere (ie, in letters to the company rather than tweets to our friends or discussions at the pub). My personal opinion is that you should vote with your feet: it sounds like there are better restaurants in the area that aren’t that difficult to go to, and you’ll be sending a message to places like this by doing so.
• What do you think? Or have you got a question for Poppy and readers to consider? Post your responses below or email them to in.it.together@guardian.co.uk
